The South African Community Epidemiology Network on Drug Use (SACENDU), a project of the Mental Health, Alcohol, Substance use and Tobacco Research Unit of the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), is a vital initiative established in 1996 to monitor trends in alcohol and other drug (AOD) use across South Africa.
SACENDU Project Background
SACENDU was established in 1996 and is a network of researchers, practitioners, and policy makers from various sentinel areas in South Africa. Up until June 2006, these sites comprised of Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth (PE), East London (EL), Gauteng Province and Mpumalanga Province (MP). As some sites were beginning to also include data from other towns/cities (e.g.Durban included data from Pietermaritzburg and East London included data from SANCA (South African National Council on Alcoholism) satellite offices in Butterworth, Grahamstown, Fort Beaufort, and King Williams Town), it was decided to begin to report data by province. From the second half of 2006, data were also collected from treatment centres in the Free State, Northern Cape and North-West. Given the limited number of centres in these Provinces, these three provinces have been combined into a regional group termed the “Central Region.” In the Limpopo and Mpumalanga Provinces, the same problem exists, and it was decided to combine this data and we now refer to these two provinces as the Northern Region.
The SACENDU Project initiative has several specific objectives:
- To identify changes in the nature and extent of AOD (Alcohol and Other Drug) abuse and emerging problems.
- To identify changes in alcohol and other drug-related negative consequences.
- To inform policy, planning and advocacy efforts at local and other levels.
- To support networks of local role players in the substance abuse area.
- To stimulate research in new or under-researched areas that is likely to provide useful data to inform policy/planning decisions.
- To facilitate South Africa’s full participation in international fora focusing on the epidemiological surveillance of drug abuse.
- SACENDU update (July- December 2023)
- SACENDU update (January - June 2023)
- SACENDU update (July - December 2022)
- SACENDU update (January- June 2022)
- SACENDU update (July - December 2021)
- SACENDU update (January - June 2021)
- SACENDU update (July – December 2020)
- SACENDU update (January - June 2020)
- SACENDU update (July-December 2019)
- SACENDU update (January - June 2019)
- SACENDU brief (January - June 2023)
- SACENDU brief (July - December 2022)
- SACENDU brief (January - June 2022)
- SACENDU brief (July- December 2021)
- SACENDU brief (January - June 2021)
- SACENDU brief (July – December 2020)
- SACENDU Brief (January - June 2020)
- SACENDU Brief (July - December 2019)
- SACENDU Brief (January - June 2019)
- Full report Vol 25(2) - January to December 2022
- Full report proceedings (July - December 2021) (Phase 51)
- Full report proceedings (January - June 2021) (Phase 50)
- Full report proceedings (July- December 2020) (Phase 49)
- Full report proceedings (January - June 2020) (Phase 48)
- Full report proceedings (July- December 2019) (Phase 47)
- Full report proceedings (January - June 2019) (Phase 46)
Eastern Cape
- Ms Jodilee Erasmus - SACENDU Eastern Cape treatment demand data
- Ms Phumzile Mchunu - SACENDU update on community-based harm reduction services in Eastern Cape
- Mr Elron Fouten - Risk Profiles and Multi-Level Predictors of Substance Abuse in South Africa
- Dr Itumeleng Ntatamala - Work-related factors are associated with self-reported substance use in South African healthcare workers: a cross-sectional study
- Dr Lindsay Scholtz - Principles of harm reduction
- Dr Lindsay Scholtz & Dr Kavendren Odayar - An overview of OST and the evidence behind it
- Dr Kavendren Odayar - Good Package of Care: Integrating OST
Gauteng
- Ms Nancy Hornsby - SACENDU Gauteng treatment demand data
- Ms Dolly Machabe - SACENDU update on community-based harm reduction services in Gauteng
- Dr Antoinette Basson - An exploratory study on substance use and abuse amongst South African youth
- Ms Phumzile Mngomezulu - Retention in care among HIV-positive clients on anti-retroviral therapy who inject drugs in three South African districts
- Mr Likwa Ncube - Exploring the benefits and harms of a needle and syringe programme: Findings from a qualitative study among people who inject drugs in Tshwane, South Africa (2024)
- Ms Annette Langley - The wounded healer: an alternative way of understanding recovering healthcare providers
- Lt Col Botha - DPCI: SOCI: SANEB Annual threat picture
Western Cape
- Ms Jodilee Erasmus - SACENDU WC treatment demand data
- Ms Kim Johnson - Service Quality Measures findings Jan-December 2023
- Ms Memory Mahaso - SACENDU Update on community-based harm reduction services in Cape Town
- Ms Itumeleng Ntatamala - Mental health and substance use problems among undergraduate health and rehabilitation sciences students during the COVID-19 pandemic
- Dr Lize Clegg - Investigating post-mortem redistribution of drugs in a cohort of suspected unnatural deaths in Cape town, South Africa
- Mr Donal McDevitt - Addictive Pharmacology: Using Economics to Understand Medicine
- Dr Nisha Jacob - Knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding alcohol use among undergraduate students at a South African university | Undergraduate Research in Health Journal
Northern Region
- Ms Nancy Hornsby - SACENDU Northern Region treatment demand data
- Ms Philasande Madosi - SACENDU update on community-based harm reduction services in Northern Region
- Mr Thembinkosi Singwane - Perspectives of service providers on alcohol harm reduction: Towards an outpatient alcohol harm reduction intervention
- Ms Julie Mac Donnell - Toolkit for Healthcare Workers working with Pregnant People who use Drugs
- Dr Antoinette Basson - An exploratory study on substance use and abuse amongst South African youth
- Mr Donal McDevitt - Addictive Pharmacology: Using Economics to Understand Medicine
- Ms Siphesihle Mahanjana - Mapping Intervention Strategies and Patient Journeys in Addressing Mental Health Challenges Among Healthcare Workers
KwaZulu Natal
- Ms Jodilee Erasmus - SACENDU KZN treatment demand data
- Ms Zikhona Nyathi - SACENDU Update on community-based harm reduction services in KwaZulu Natal
- Dr Mhlengi Ncube - Mapping Intervention Strategies and Patient Journeys in Addressing Mental Health Challenges Among Healthcare Workers
- Ms Julie Mac Donnell - Toolkit for Healthcare Workers working with Pregnant People who use Drugs
- Mr Donal McDevitt - Addictive Pharmacology: Using Economics to Understand Medicine
- Dr Antoinette Basson - An exploratory study on substance use and abuse amongst South African youth
Central Region
- Ms Jodilee Erasmus - SACENDU CR treatment demand data
- Mr Gidion Ncube - “Empower and protect” The case of harm reduction for people who inject drugs in Free state, Lejweleputswa district.
- Ms Lerato Pitso - Mapping Intervention Strategies and Patient Journeys in Addressing Mental Health Challenges Among Healthcare Workers
- Dr Antoinette Basson - An exploratory study on substance use and abuse amongst South African youth
- Ms Julie Mac Donnell - Toolkit for Healthcare Workers working with Pregnant People who use Drugs
- Dr Nisha Jacob - Knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding alcohol use among undergraduate students at a South African university | Undergraduate Research in Health Journal
Additional Resources
Hosted by the SACENDU Research Uptake and Evidence-Based Information Sharing Platform
Session 1 - 30 August 2024
- What are the implications of substance use on both familial dynamics and community well-being?
- What strategies can a family employ to cope with the challenges of supporting a person who uses drugs (PWUD) or struggles with alcohol?
Presentations
- Ripple Effects -The impact of substance abuse on families and communities
- The Family and Substance Use Disorders
Video
Session 2 - 6 September 2024
- What measures do substance treatment centers implement to address familial burnout?
Presentations
- 2021 Membership Survey Results
- Engaging Families & Significant Others
- THE MATRIX MODEL FAMILY PROGRAMME
Video
Session 3 - 13 September 2024
To what extent does familial support facilitate substance use recovery
Presentation
To what extent does familial support facilitate substance use recovery
Video
Session 4 - 20 September 2024
- Strategies that healthcare professionals employ to address burnout resulting from providing care to individuals with substance use disorders
Presentation
Video
Information regarding data analyses & recruitment of new treatment centres
Bi-annual meetings, reports, presentations, updates, regional data representations, treatment data collection forms or becoming part of the SACENDU network
For any queries, comments or concerns related to SACENDU
