This announcement was made at a conference held in Hanoi on January 24 to review the first stage of the community-based drug abuse control project, which aims to build a network of strong communities in selected highland areas for dealing with drug related problems and changing authorities' policies.

The project’s first phase has already been carried out over the last two years in Xuan Phu and Phu Xuan communes of Quan Hoa district, central Thanh Hoa province. It was conducted under the sponsorship of the Regional Information and Action Networking for Drug Abuse Control (IOGT - RIAN DAC).

The project has already achieved initial results in reducing drug demands by consolidating the province’s contact with its districts, communes and villages, by establishing Social Development and Support Funds, and by organizing volunteer social activitist groups and social activities to maintain the national cultural identity.

The conference laid emphasis on the need to decentralize responsibility for administrative networks involved in the project, to improve the capacity of the project's staff and to organize exchanges between those localities that have succeeded in eradicating social evils in the community.