The mission of the Pompidou Group (Council of Europe International Cooperation Group on Drugs and Addictions) is to contribute to the development of multidisciplinary, innovative, effective, and evidence-based drug policies in its member states.¹ Since the late 1980s, it has worked to support the integration of a gender dimension into drug policies and has delivered on a number of activities in this area.² Its latest output on this issue is Implementing a gender approach in drug policies: prevention, treatment and criminal justice. A handbook for practitioners and decision makers.³

The Pompidou Group (Council of Europe International Cooperation Group on Drugs and Addictions) is the Council of Europe’s drug policy cooperation platform. Upholding the core values of the Council of Europe – human rights, democracy, and the rule of law – is central to the group’s mission. To support a human rights approach to drug policy internationally, it has published Human rights in drug policy: a self-assessment tool to be used in assessing drug policy compliance with human rights.¹

On 22 September 2022, the Department of Health launched its new Prevention and Education Funding Programme.¹ As part of a wider suite of activities, the Department is undertaking to enhance the area of prevention and education. The fund aims to increase the focused delivery of prevention programmes, supported by the best possible evidence, among the school/university age population. The programme is designed to strengthen the prevention of drug, alcohol, and tobacco use and the associated harms among this cohort.

The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) has issued a call for submissions to their new prevention and early intervention (PEI) What Works Ireland Evidence Hub.^1,2

Alcohol use as well as the associated harms in the World Health Organization (WHO) European Region is among the highest in the world. A combination of population-level measures are recommended by WHO to address alcohol use and related harms. Key to the recommendations are measures that focus on limiting alcohol advertising, availability, and affordability, the latter including minimum pricing. The use of minimum pricing and minimum unit pricing (MUP), along with its strengths and limitations and evidence of its impact, are examined in a 2022 WHO report.¹