Alcohol and other drugs – NEW Strategies of Family HEALTH PROGRAM IN Vulnerable URBAN Communities IN Rio DE Janeiro

The Non-Government Organization Viva Rio has been developing, for the last couple of years, different projects aiming at preventing drug-use and reacting to it, in Brazil. Since early 2010, Viva Rio has included a healthcare approach to drug related issues. In the same period, the Healthcare Social Organization Viva Comunidade - part of Viva Rio, in partnership with the City Municipality of Rio de Janeiro began the implementation of the Family Health Strategy in three areas of the city, marked by high levels of social vulnerability. One of these identified problems is the high levels of drug use - not only tobacco or alcohol, but also crack-cocaine - and the difficulty of health professionals to work with these healthcare system users. In this scenario, different products - including a booklet for Community Health Agents, a clinic protocol, an informative leaflet - were produced to support and instrumentalize the aid to drugs users. The work isn't restricted only to the distribution of material, discussion groups an held and support to the family health teams is also being organized, aiming at a constant revision of this processes. The inclusion of this segment of the population in the work of family health teams in the city has been innovative. Despite the high level of demands by the population, little has been done in this area up until now, mainly due to challenges and prejudices it provokes. Therefore, the new strategy now applied permits effective interventions and gradative transformation of this 'state of exception'.