Demand for treatment for drug use
The EU Member States and Norway collect the data on people starting a treatment for their drug use according to an established European protocol (theTDI protocol): the Joint Pompidou Group-EMCDDA Treatment Demand Indicator Protocol version 2.0 (160KB), along with a more detailed Technical annex (637KB). This protocol is the result of the developmental work undertaken by the Pompidou Group, the study of the national experiences, in particular in Germany, The Netherlands, Spain and United Kingdom and specific projects run by the EMCDDA.
The protocol describes a routine system for collecting standard data (20 variables) from each client starting treatment. Each country's definition of what constitutes a treatment case or episode is, if not the same, at least acceptably compatible with the TDI definition. The protocol provides a classification of treatment centres, defines which clients they should notify, and gives guidelines on methods of data collection, analysis and reporting. The TDI protocol states that it is essential to identify clearly the types of treatment centres involved in order to increase the comparability of treatment data among countries. The protocol includes procedures for minimising double-counting whilst respecting confidentiality, and for internal consistency checks to improve reliability. The items do not necessarily have to be collected in exactly the same form and using exactly the same categories as specified in the TDI Protocol, but each country should be able to draw these data from its national sources.
There are some problems and deficiencies in the way many of the National focal points report treatment data to the EMCDDA. It is difficult to know exactly how double-counting is affecting the data since the level of control of double-counting is not the same in all Member States. The number of missing cases for each data item is another limitation, and for many variables is sometimes unknown.
The results presented in the tables reflect that treatment information is not available from all the Member States. Differences in coverage among Member States affect data comparability. Some countries lack information on treatment units and the definitions used are not always 100% compatible with the TDI protocol. Most countries have different kinds of treatment facilities and, moreover, the differences in the availability and use of drug treatment services could bias the results. The network of drug treatment centres has changed in the last decade; for example, methadone programmes have expanded. These changes in treatment services could have influenced treatment figures over time. A last problem concerns the network of treatment centres and whether it is extensive enough to meet all treatment demands.
The quantity and type of treatment services offered provide important background information, but it is essential that treatment-related data be interpreted in the context in which they are collected.
For more information on data quality an data collection see: Quality assessment of TDI data 2000-2001 and http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/?nnodeid=1420.