The Regional Director for Prevention and Control of Dependencies defended in Ponta Delgada the training of health professionals as a means of overcoming stigmas associated with dependency problems.
 
"Training future professionals means preparing them to understand why these phenomena arise and what they mean in a given social context, both from the standpoint of a humanistic approach and the minimisation of risks and damages," said Suzete Frias.
 
The Regional Director spoke at a class on preventing the use of illicit substances and non-chemical dependencies, an initiative directed to the students attending the Health School of the University of the Azores. According to her, the construction of taboos regarding the use of illicit substances often leads to the deny and hiding of the reality.
 
During this class, Suzete Frias promoted the debate with the students, questioning how our experience and social beliefs may deceive us as professionals.
 
For Suzete Frias, it is critical to train professionals so that they may understand the complexity of substance use involves, without falling into simplistic dichotomies of "right and wrong" or "good and bad."
 
"These actions are aimed at analysing the complexity of this issue and preventing the existence of professionals who act in a moralising, superficial and discriminatory way," stressed the government official.
 
The initiative held today falls within a series of lectures intended to train future professionals to analyse different prevention and intervention paths focused on individuals, taking into account their physical, mental, social and temporal space.
 
On the occasion the Regional Director defended prevention and intervention methods as well as different responses, according to the needs of each citizen in order to eliminate inequalities.