Tackling drug and alcohol misuse in Brazil: priorities and challenges for nurses

AIMS: To provide an overview of the extent of drug and alcohol misuse in Brazil and the policies and approaches in tackling substance misuse. An examination of the challenges facing the nursing profession in working with substance misusers is presented. BACKGROUND: Alcohol, cocaine, and cannabis are the most commonly misused psychoactive substances in Brazil. One of the biggest public health problems is the interface between the misuse of psychoactive substances and HIV prevalence and other sexually transmitted diseases. Findings from a recent study suggest that undergraduate nurses in Brazil are not adequately prepared in the care and management of substance misuse problems. The nursing profession in Brazil faces numerous challenges in the development of professional competence of nurses in this field. CONCLUSION: A strategy proposed is the creation of regional centres in Brazil to study the integration of substance use and misuse in the nursing undergraduate curriculum and the giving of specific support in teaching and research to nurse teachers. Nurses have a key role to play in the early recognition, assessment, prevention, and treatment of substance misuse.