The document articulates the island response in four strategic areas and contemplates more than 60 actions for its development until 2029
The new planning incorporates specific measures for young people and families, reinforces comprehensive care and establishes monitoring and evaluation mechanisms
The Plenary Session of the Cabildo of La Gomera has definitively approved the II Island Plan on Addictions, which establishes the island's new roadmap to reinforce prevention, care and the coordinated response to addictions over the coming years. Thus, the new Plan contemplates 68 actions, structured in four large strategic areas: prevention and awareness, reduction of supply, comprehensive care and support and support.
The president of the Cabildo, Casimiro Curbelo, highlighted that this new instrument “allows public policies to be adapted to a reality that has changed and that requires action not only on substance consumption, but also on new addictive behaviors that especially affect the younger population.”
In this sense, he pointed out that "prevention must continue to be one of the fundamental pillars, but accompanied by an adequate healthcare response, tools for families and permanent coordination between administrations, professionals and entities."
For her part, the insular Minister of Social Policy, Rosa Elena García, highlighted the transversal nature of the document and the previous work carried out to understand the situation of addictions on the island. “We start from our own diagnosis and a participatory process that allows us to define actions adjusted to the characteristics and needs of La Gomera,” he explained.
Plan Details
The Plan is based on a diagnosis that reflects that alcohol and tobacco continue to be the most widespread consumption among the general population. The study also warns about the growing weight of behavioral addictions and the problematic use of the Internet and new technologies.
For this reason, prevention is reinforced among children and young people through programs in educational centers, workshops on substance use, vaping and new technologies, actions on mental health and prevention of behavioral addictions, as well as healthy leisure alternatives. It also provides for a rotating Youth Information Point and early detection and referral protocols. In the family sphere, it incorporates training, awareness campaigns and coordination mechanisms with educational centers, social services and community agents.
Likewise, the document supports personalized and coordinated care, reinforcing social and health resources, psychological and social support services and labor and social inclusion measures. It also contemplates actions to facilitate access to healthcare resources, as well as measures to reduce supply through greater coordination with security forces, controls in public spaces and awareness-raising actions aimed at the service sector and the protection of minors.
Furthermore, the monitoring of the Plan will be articulated through an Island Commission and a Joint Commission, in charge of coordinating the actions and evaluating their development. In addition, annual reviews of indicators, monitoring reports and a final evaluation will be carried out to measure the degree of execution and adapt the measures to the needs that are detected.
