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A Review on School Based Interventions for Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs (ATOD) in the United States: Can Developing Countries in Africa Adopt these Preventive Programs Based on ATOD Approaches?

Stephen E D Nsimba  and Amos. Y. Massele

Substance abuse problems have been a major concern of societies all over the world, including the United States, during last five decades. In the United States, the substance abuse epidemic has been changing its characteristics as to the major drugs of abuse and the populations abusing them and the overall magnitude of the problem can be best described as fluctuating only.

Health disparities in drug use are a major public health concern as indicated in the NIDA Health Disparities Initiative. Despite evidence that racial/ethnic minorities are less likely than Whites to use drugs in childhood and adolescence, they are more likely to experience negative health outcomes related to drug use in adulthood, such as HIV/AIDS, intentional and unintentional injuries, overdose, incarceration, and emergency room visits. These changes in health disparities in drug use outcomes over the life course suggest a complex relationship between race/ethnicity and drug use, particularly during the transition from adolescence to adulthood.

Further, it is likely that changing trends in drug over time can affect subgroups of the population differentially. In order to reduce health disparities related to drug use, it is necessary to characterize how they unfold over time, and to shed light on the processes and influences that increase the likelihood of negative health outcomes among minorities and disadvantaged groups. Further understanding of health disparities in drug use and use-related problems can provide clues for preventing negative drug use outcomes as well as estimate the need for services to reduce the public health burden related to drug use. The nature of health disparities is quite complex and varies considerably by type of drug and drug-related outcome, developmental stage, chronological time, community, and geographic region. However, these geographic changes are happening in both developed and developing countries where HIV/AIDS and illicit substance use continue to be on an increase especially in sub-Saharan Africa hence posing great threats of public health concern which calls for immediate effective interventions to be in places.