By Matters India Reporter
Abu Dhabi, May 15, 2022: Thomas Scaria, a renowned expert in addiction management, training and consultancy, has become the first Indian to receive “International Award for Excellence in Training Provision.”
Scaria, who heads the Mangaluru-based Ecolink Institute of Well-being, received the award May 14 at a function in Abu Dhabi.
The award is instituted by the International Society for Substance Use Professionals (ISSUP) based in the United Kingdom and constituted by international organizations such as Colombo Plan, World Health Organization, the US Department of State and UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime).
The award was handed over at the closing ceremony of ISSUP’s three-day annual conference attended by more than 1,000 delegates from 100 countries.
Announcing the award and presenting the felicitation, ISSUP deputy director Livia Eddegger said the Indian institute was selected by the award committee for its excellence in training maximum number of addiction professionals from around the globe and creating several credentialed professionals during the year.
“Ecolink Institute headed by Dr. Thomas Scaria has trained and professionalized the highest number of addiction professionals in an excellent way,” Eddegger said.
Four other persons from various parts of the world were also awarded for their services to Drug Demand Reduction services under various heads.
Scaria, who has worked in India and with international organizations, is also a veteran journalist reporting mainly for Delhi-based Matters India and Global Sisters Report in United States.
Ecolink Institute has trained more than 260 addiction professionals in Universal Treatment Curriculum on Substance Use Disorder in seven batches in online platforms. The students included psychologists, psychiatrists, doctors and social workers from some 20 countries, including India.
More than 30 of its students have already successfully completed the qualifying examination for credentials as “Internationally Certified Addiction Professionals,” who can practice as licensed addiction professionals anywhere in the world.
The event was in collaboration among ISSUP, National Rehabilitation Centre, the International Consortium of Universities for Drug Demand Reduction, and the US Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.
The conference, titled as “Uniting the Global Community to Face the Challenge of Addiction,” was addressed by speakers such as Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Michael Farrell of the University of New South Wales, former U.S. Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy, Diana Fishbein from University of North Carolina, Giovanna Campello of UNODC, Harry Sumnall of Liverpool John Moores University, Peer van der Kreeft of University College Ghent, Vladimir B. Poznyak of the World Health Organization and Zili Sloboda, president of Applied Prevention Science International.