Rapid assessement and response : methods for developping public health responses to drug problems

FRANÇAIS :
Des méthodes d'évaluation rapide (RAR) sont utilisées pour favoriser l'évolution des interventions en santé publique ayant pour objectif de lutter contre les problèmes de drogue. Elles mesurent les conséquences de l'usage sur la santé, alertent les états pour qu'ils agissent sur les besoins, et pour qu'ils fassent le lien entre les groupes communautaires et les organisations sanitaires, mettent en évidence les niveaux d'intervention adéquates. La plupart des problèmes évoluent plus vite que les recherches dans le domaine. Les méthodes d'évaluations rapides sont une aide au développement d'interventions.
ENGLISH :
Rapid assessments are used increasingly to assist in the development of public health interventions for drug problems. They have been used to assess drug use and its health consequences, alert governments to the need to intervene, build alliances between community groups and health organisations, identify appropriate interventions (at the individual, community and structural level), indicate obstacles to interventions, test their feasibility and help implement and assess them. Rapid assessment and response (RAR) methods have been developed because: conventional social science and routine drug surveillance information systems often fail to deliver relevant information; many drug problems change faster than social research projects can deliver; and because inappropriate interventions may be developed unless based on good evidence and analysis. Originating as a research method, and often used by international agencies and conducted by external consultants, RAR is a rapidly evolving approach to analysing situations in order to develop interventions. RAR is becoming a tool for developing responses and not merely for conducting rapid "assessments". (Author's abstract.)