The 2017 International Society of Addiction Medicine, ISAM, Conference opened in Abu Dhabi today under the title "Addiction Medicine: New Frontiers".

The event, held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, is hosted by the National Rehabilitation Centre at the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi on October 26 to 29, and will focus on the latest developments in understanding and treating addiction disorders.

In his inauguration speech, Dr. Hamad Abdulla Al Ghaferi, Director General of the National Rehabilitation Centre, said, " We would like to thank the wise leadership of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, for their unlimited support."

He extended thanks to H.H. Sheikh Mansour for his patronage and great support to the Centre in research fields to develop treatment, rehabilitation, and awareness programs.

"On the occasion of launching the Conference, it pleases us to announce that the support of the leadership has resulted in the National Rehabilitation Centre earning the classification of World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre, and is the first regional centre to be classified as such. This qualifies us to be a point of reference for addiction sciences and related research and rehabilitation activities on the regional level, which affirms the regional and international status of the Centre and crystalises the wise leadership’s vision for development and achieving the best results on all levels," Al Ghaferi said.

He noted that more than 500 people from around 40 countries are participating in the Conference, during which 145 out of 150 scientific research papers will be discussed, in addition to holding 36 workshops, and 34 scientific and research papers, as well as training workshops, lectures, research papers, seminars, and training programmes in various relevant fields.

With this string line-up of activities, the conference will be an important platform to shed the light on the latest findings in addiction research, the challenges faced by countries in general and the Middle East in particular in combating the spread of narcotics and psychotropic substances, and the latest in scientific research related to treatment, rehabilitation, and prevention programmes.