The Unit Illicit drugs is the key responsible for data collection, monitoring and research on drugs in Belgium. The unit consists of a multidisciplinary team of researchers and can rely an ongoing collaboration with a variety of national and international experts and practitioners. Specifically at European level, the unit was certified within its role as Belgian national focal point on drugs by EMCDDA in January 2024.
To gather all the relevant data and to provide a comprehensive picture of the Belgian drug scene, we collaborate with other teams within Sciensano:
- The Medicines and health products service that analyses the various substances to first and foremost identify the type of the substances and secondly to determine the purity level or adulterants added.
- The Epidemiology of infectious diseases service provides information on the occurrence of infectious diseases among people who use drugs.
- The Health surveys unit provides information about the broader situation on drug use among the general population.
- The Health indicators unit exchanges results in order to publish evidence-based indicators of drug use.
Besides the existing collaborations within Sciensano, the Unit Illicit drugs can also rely on a large range of public and private institutions, organisations and external experts:
Please visite our Unit Illicit drugs pagefor more information about our work on drug-related monitoring, research and support to policymakers.