Utrecht, October 15th 2009. Today at the First International E-Mental Health Summit in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, organized by the Trimbos Institute and partners, minister Klink (Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports, represented by one of the directors, Mrs. Annemiek van Bolhuis), announced the launch of an international, collaborative project to develop, disseminate and evaluate an E-Health Portal to curb hazardous and harmful drinking. This project could be an important step in a worldwide implementation of e-mental health support in dealing with mental and substance use disorders.
Harmful use of alcohol is one of the major causes of disability and premature death, globally. More importantly, it is an avoidable risk factor. The World Health Organisation (WHO) in Geneva has asked the Trimbos Institute (Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction) to play a fundamental role in the new project that entails developing a toolkit for creating national e-health portals on alcohol and substance abuse.
This toolkit will be developed in close collaboration with partners in India, Brazil Mexico and Belarus.The toolkit is based on evidence based knowledge on alcohol and other psychoactive substance use and practice of internet interventions.
It's expected that internet interventions to curb alcohol use can be effective, cost-effective and very scalable. Hence, it may offer new ways of addressing several manifestations of problem drinking, and to promote public health - at a global scale.
The Trimbos Institute will work with several WHO Collaborating Centres across the world. The start of the project is partly funded in the framework of a partnership agreement between WHO and the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Please contact the press officers of the Trimbos Institute for more information: Anke Wammes, +3130 - 297 11 07, + 316 - 5139 5407 or Marjan Heuving, +3130 - 297 11 38, +316 - 5139 5629
