Egyptian drug abuse professionals participated in the January 2015 NIDA Drug Facts Week activities, holding events at schools, sporting clubs, youth centers, churches, the national police academy, and a book fair. Mohammed Elhamshary, M.D., M.Sc., 2014–2015 NIDA Hubert H. Humphrey Drug Abuse Research Fellow, coordinated an enthusiastic team of psychiatrists and social workers from Egypt Alabassiya Hospital to organize the events in collaboration with the country’s Mental Health Secretariat. The Egyptian experts used a NIDA online toolkit to help plan the event and disseminated free NIDA publications to teen participants. National Drug Facts Week provides teens with facts about the effects drugs have on the brain, body, and behavior. Since 2010, NIDA has supported school- and community-based events during National Drug Facts Week to counteract drug myths that teens get from the Internet, TV, movies, music, or friends. In 2015, more than 1,550 events were held throughout the world. Countries in Africa and Europe also participated in NIDA National Drug Facts Week. International educators, health professionals, and community organizations are invited to plan activities in their countries in conjunction with the 2016 National Drug Facts Week, which will be held January 25–31. For more information, visit the National Drug Facts Week website or email drugfacts@nida.nih.gov.
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