Abstract
The development of the drug scene in the aftermath of the post-1989 changes in Czech society very soon led to the formulation of the first Drug Policy Strategy (1993). By the mid-1990s the first training programmes for practitioners from various backgrounds working with addicts had come into existence.
Among other influences, these programmes drew on the tradition of SUR (a training programme named after its founders, Skála, Urban, and Rubeš), and from the emerging paradigms of harm and risk reduction interventions. Systematic courses provided respectively by two non-governmental organisations, SANANIM (Prague) and Podané ruce (Brno), grew to assume a dominant position in this respect.
They marked a response to a range of issues, including the lack of educated professionals in the rapidly developing drug services and the problems with the recognition of various qualifications, the definition of professional activities, and the competences of the individual professions. These two programmes laid the foundations for what was to become the interdisciplinary university-based study programme in addictology.
In parallel, various social and health professions (including physicians) involved in specialised addiction treatment services had their needs and conceptual strategies shaped and clarified, which subsequently resulted in the drafting of the first comprehensive policy document in the history of the Czech Republic to outline a system of education in addictology. Having passed the review process, this policy document was approved by both the relevant professional associations in 2014.