Yerevan, 26 January 2009 - Today the NGO “Scientific Association of Medical Students of Armenia” has launched a pilot project “Parental Involvement into Primary Drug Prevention” in Yerevan schools named after J. Kirakossian, A. Pushkin, V. Mayakovski, A. Chekhov and N. Aghbalyan. The pilot project will be carried out with financial support of the South Caucasus Anti Drug Programme, Phase 5 (SCAD-V), which is funded by the European Union (EU) and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Head of the Drug Squad of the Police of Armenia, the SCAD-V programme team in Armenia, as well as parents and teachers representing 5 selected schools of Yerevan attended the event.


The overall objective of the project is to create a network of students’ parents in the selected schools and educate them on the issues of primary prevention of alcohol, tobacco and drug abuse, so that they will have an opportunity to exchange their knowledge with other parents. The project foresees that the parents of these schools will realize their important role in preventing the tobacco, alcohol and drug abuse by using their gained knowledge during such meetings. They will have a chance to think on their attitudes and perceptions towards narcotic and medical drugs, including a glance over their first aid kits at homes, and the NGO team will support them to develop key parental skills, especially, on early warning and ability to deploy frank conversations with their children on tobacco, alcohol and drug issues.


Mr. Grigori Malintsyan, SCAD-V Country Manager in Armenia welcomed the participants of the event and gave a brief expose on the SCAD-V programme activities in Armenia. He praised the EC and UNDP financial support for the implementation of drug prevention programmes not only in Armenia, but in other countries of the region. Mr. Malintsyan also introduced the international drug related situation both in drug supply and demand reduction domains, as well as largely prioritized the role of the parental networking for advocating healthy lifestyles aimed at prevention of any bad habits.


Mr. Nazareth Mnatsakanyan, Head of the Drug Squad of the National Police of Armenia stressed the role of the parents in the primary prevention of alcohol, tobacco and drug misuse. He also requested the educational institutions to cooperate and exchange information with the law-enforcement authorities for better preventive actions.