Brazilian Coalitions Working to Reduce Alcohol Use and Illicit Drug Abuse

Community Coalitions that CADCA trained and helped form are expanding throughout all of Latin America, especially in Portuguese-speaking Brazil, and officials in both Brazil and the United States are taking notice.

With CADCA’s assistance, several new coalitions in São Paulo in Brazil are being formed. To say São Paulo is populous is an understatement. With over 40 million inhabitants it is the economic and industrial powerhouse of Brazil.

The city's Latin motto, Non dvcor, dvco, means "I am not led, I lead,” and the Brazilian coalitions have certainly hit the ground running, said Dr. Eduardo Hernández, Vice President of CADCA’s International Programs and Deputy Director for Dissemination and Coalition Relations for CADCA’s National Coalition Institute.

“I’m impressed with their dedication to coalition work and by their commitment to create change in their communities,” Dr. Hernández said. “These coalitions have genuinely started to address the need for population-level reductions in their substance abuse rates.”

Dr. Hernández most recently traveled to Brazil in October to provide training and technical assistance to three communities in the Valley of Paraíba region of the Sao Paulo State: Pindamonghangaba, Taubaté, and Tremembé. During his visit, Dr. Hernández also engaged in meetings with local governmental and state officials to describe the coalition strategy to them and highlight the work being done in the Paraíba Valley region. He also participated in an inaugural ceremony in Taubaté, marking the development of a community coalition in that city of 300,000 residents.

A CADCA consultant, Ms Juliana Badaro Langille, who leads a community coalition in Brockton, Mass. accompanied Dr. Hernández to Brazil exclusively to train youth from the three cities. Ms. Langille is a native Brazilian and is an expert at youth work. Alcohol is one of the substance abuse problems Brazilian coalitions are working to solve. Youth are able to purchase alcohol at their neighborhood stores, at times, located just steps from their school yard, said Hernández.

Alcohol is also readily available at community events, environments which the coalitions have begun to address.
 
“The Coalizão Comunitária Antidrogas de Pindamonhangaba continues to mature and is poised to embark upon additional activities. The Taubaté and Tremembé groups took significant actions during this visit to get their coalitions up-and-running,” he said.

During this trip, Dr. Hernández provided training to coalition leaders from Taubaté and Tremembé on the topic of research-based strategies such as community assessment to bring about population-level, community change. Participants found the training so impactful that several community members asked for time to discuss developing a community coalition in their communities and even developed a governing structure with committees. 

Dr. Hernández participated in meetings in the capitol city of São Paulo during this week-long visit. He addressed a State Assembly subcommittee dealing with the issue of crack cocaine and informed it about the effectiveness of the coalition strategy. He also met with a congresswoman from the area who is very interested in expanding the coalition model to other regions.

“When we first started out in Latin America five years ago no one had heard of community coalitions. Now we’re at the point that communities are approaching us about helping them build coalitions,” Dr. Hernández explained.

CADCA plans another visit to the region in January.

In addition to working in Brazil, CADCA provides training and technical assistance in Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Kenya and South Africa. Its international work is funded with resources provided by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.

CADCA is also a Non-Government Organization that enjoys Special Consultative Status with the United Nations and also coordinates a variety of activities in conjunction with observances of International Day Against Drug Use held each June.