Lebanon
Skoun Lebanese Addiction Center
Founded in 2001, Skoun Lebanese Addictions Center is a nonprofit organization that offers preventative and rehabilitative treatment to drug users. The clinic is a product of funding by Drosos, a Swiss NGO committed to promoting health, supporting ill and suffering people, and facilitating access to education and knowledge. The Drosos Foundation develops and supports projects that have a direct bearing on improving the living conditions of particular groups of people. Financial aid is aimed at facilitating innovative undertakings that sustain positive developments within a society.
Skoun is also the first outpatient therapeutic facility in Lebanon with the primary objective of maintenance treatment. It strives to make addiction a mainstream healthcare issue and drug prevention an integrated component of addiction by working closely with local communities and governments to devise and implement effective policies, gain support from NGOs and stakeholders, and ensure the spread of research to increase public awareness. Skoun also aims to empower those with addiction problems by providing a nonjudgmental and caring environment of client-centered treatment and counseling, in addition to seeking to prevent the onset of drug use through prevention programs among youth.
The establishment of a clinic in Chiyah by Skoun, with funding from Drosos, is intended to be an important step in promoting meaningful harm reduction services in Beirut to address the problems of heroin addiction and related problems. The overarching goal of ISAP’s evaluation project is to assess if the new Skoun Chiyah clinic is able to develop a high quality and clinically effective opioid substitution therapy (OST) service, become self-sustaining beyond the Drosos funding, and promote acceptance and use of OST in Lebanon.
For more information, visit the Skoun website at http://www.skoun.org/
and the Drosos website at http://www.drosos.org/en/home
Marsa Sexual Health Center
Launched in 2011, Marsa Sexual Health Center is an NGO that aims to provide comprehensive primary and secondary healthcare services to economically disadvantaged populations. The overarching goal of the Drosos Foundation’s evaluation is to assess the capacity of the Marsa Sexual Health Center in terms of expanding and improving services (increasing quality care, expansion of target groups, and patient satisfaction due to decreased wait time and increased privacy, and number of patients served) and organizational and financial sustainability of the clinic (organization development, service delivery mix, and revenue/funding sources). The Marsa services create an expanded community resource that will generate new knowledge about sexual health in Lebanon and promote sustained funding.
Marsa is a state-of-the-art clinic that focuses on providing services to youth, woman, and LGBTIQ populations. Services provided include medical, social, and psychological consultations, awareness campaigns, and preventative care. Additionally, Marsa conducts research and disseminates findings in order to increase awareness of sexual health needs and engage stakeholders and policy makers to ensure continuing financial support of the program’s endeavors. Confidentiality, anonymity, and providing a safe and welcoming environment that is free of judgment are at the forefront of Marsa’s services. Marsa, which has been highly successful, was responsible for having performed one of the highest numbers of voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) procedures for HIV in Lebanon within one year of its founding.
Marsa website: http://www.marsa.me/
Drosos website: http://www.drosos.org/en/home