Navaratnam V, Foong K
National Drug Research Centre, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Pinang.
Bull Narc. 1989;41(1-2):53-65.
Monitoring systems are useful epidemiological instruments for assessing the problem of drug abuse. The rapid growth of the drug dependence problem in Malaysia led to increased awareness of the need for a system for continuous monitoring of the situation. Preliminary work on the design of an appropriate monitoring system was initiated in 1976. A fully integrated national reporting system was established in 1978, linking all public services and agencies coming into contact with drug-dependent persons, including law enforcement agencies, drug abuse treatment and rehabilitation centres, and social and welfare institutions. The information system included a mechanism for systematic gathering, processing, analysing and presenting essential data on the prevention, control and management of drug abuse problems. It also included reporting on drug-related events, such as hospitalizations and arrests, as well as data on known drug-dependent persons and new cases of dependence. The system has been used for routine monitoring of the extent, trends, patterns and other characteristics of drug abuse problems in Malaysia, providing basic information for policy-making and programme planning. On the basis of data generated by the system, it was estimated that the prevalence rate of drug-dependent persons per 100,000 population increased from 84.3 in 1976 to 754.6 in 1986. It was estimated that there were 119,001 drug-dependent persons in Malaysia in 1986.
监测系统是评估药物滥用问题的有用流行病学工具。马来西亚药物依赖问题的迅速增长使人们更加意识到需要建立一个持续监测该情况的系统。1976年开始了关于设计适当监测系统的初步工作。1978年建立了一个完全整合的国家报告系统，将所有与药物依赖者接触的公共服务机构和部门联系起来，包括执法机构、药物滥用治疗和康复中心以及社会和福利机构。该信息系统包括一个系统收集、处理、分析和呈现关于药物滥用问题预防、控制和管理的基本数据的机制。它还包括报告与药物相关的事件，如住院和逮捕情况，以及已知药物依赖者和新的依赖病例的数据。该系统已用于对马来西亚药物滥用问题的程度、趋势、模式和其他特征进行常规监测，为政策制定和项目规划提供基本信息。根据该系统生成的数据估计，每10万人口中药物依赖者的患病率从1976年的84.3上升到1986年的754.6。据估计，1986年马来西亚有119,001名药物依赖者。
