United Arab Emirates
From left: Mr. Mohamed Alhosani, Dr. Tarek A. Gawad, Dr. Hamad Alghaferi, from the National Rehabilitation Center in the UAE, and Dr. J. Thomas Rosenthal, Dr. Richard A. Rawson, and Dr. Thomas J. Coates from UCLA, following the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding.
Dr. Hamad Alghaferi, Director General of the National Rehabilitation Center, and Dr. J. Thomas Rosenthal, from UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine and Center for World Health, sign the Memorandum of Understanding to solidify the close working relationship that UCLA and the NRC share.
National Research Center (NRC)
Since 2010, UCLA ISAP Associate Director, Dr. Richard Rawson, has provided consulting services to Abu Dhabi’s National Rehabilitation Centre (NRC), whose mission is to provide the best available treatment for drug addiction disorders and extend specialized rehabilitation services to United Arab Emirates nationals. Collaboratively with NRC’s Director General, His Excellency Dr. Hamad Alghaferi, and Director of Treatment & Rehabilitation, Dr. Tarek Gawad, Dr. Rawson provides technical expertise in the center’s treatment and preventive programs to help addiction patients recover and reintegrate into society.
NRC’s integrated strategy includes a package of programs of psychological and social support for the patients and their families. This is achieved through a continuous process of building effective partnerships with similar local, regional, and international institutions specializing in the treatment of addiction and prevention, in line with best practices internationally in the field.
The National Rehabilitation Centre was launched in May 2002 and follows clear, strict policies to guarantee the provision of world-class services for UAE nationals who suffer from alcohol and drug addiction disorders. The aims of the NRC are to facilitate the process of their smooth rehabilitation and re-integration into society, preserve social and family relations, and provide suitable employment for recovering patients.
The vision of the National Rehabilitation Centre is to continue to provide the best available treatment for substance abuse disorders, in line with the most advanced international practices in the field, and to become the hub of addiction research, treatment and training in the Middle East. The NRC is seeking to build a major database to become a source for specialized studies and research in the field of treatment, rehabilitation, nursing, social and psychological counseling, preventive therapy, and education.
In August 2014, Drs. Hamad and Tarek visited UCLA Integrated Substance Abuse Programs for a series of collaborative meetings to launch criminal justice and addiction treatment training and technical assistance efforts for the National Rehabilitation Centre. Drs. Hamad and Tarek met with ISAP’s Principal Investigators and Judge Michael Tynan with the Los Angeles County Drug Court system. Dr. Hamad and Dr. Tom Rosenthal from UCLA’s Center for World Health signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to solidify the close working relationship that UCLA ISAP and the NRC share.
For more information, visit the NRC website (coming soon) at http://www.nrc.ae.