Monday, January 30, 2012

USA Ambassador Discusses Drug Abuse with Mexico's First Lady

Embassy of the U.S.

U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Anthony Wayne met on January 17 with the First Lady of Mexico, Lic. Margarita Zavala, at Los Pinos. They discussed the First Lady's work to reduce domestic drug demand and some of the problems associated with young migrants.  Ambassador Wayne inquired as to potential ways the U.S. Embassy can assist those efforts. Ambassador Wayne congratulated Lic. Zavala on the major achievements of her Nueva Vida campaign to better prepare families to deal with the challenges of drug abuse.

Following the meeting, Ambassador Wayne said, "It was my great pleasure to meet Lic. Zavala today. She described for me the Nueva Vida campaign, which includes prevention training at different levels for millions of children and adolescents, as well as training for over half a million public health workers, teachers, coaches, and others as addiction first responders. There's no doubt that Nueva Vida has saved many lives and has changed countless others.  We are proud to be able to help support this campaign through the Merida Initiative."

The Merida Initiative is supporting RENADIC (Red Nacional Contra Las Adicciones), a US$18 million information technology platform that will link nearly 400 Nueva Vida centers, local councils, and state observatories throughout Mexico.  This project creates a communications network to centralize operations and allow collaboration between the centers, enabling real-time monitoring of addiction trends and statistics and the sharing of best practices in addiction treatment.  RENADIC represents the most significant delivery to date under the Merida Initiative's drug demand reduction program.

"Lic. Zavala's emphasis on preventing drug addiction, helping unaccompanied migrant children and her extensive work with crime prevention in Mexico all underscore her concern about the well-being of Mexico's youth," Ambassador Wayne said, noting her in-depth understanding of preventative and educational techniques that can be employed to reduce drug-related crime and violence.

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Press release, Embassy of the United States, Mexico City, U.S. Department of State