SACENDU was established in 1996 by the South African Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Department of Psychology at the University of Durban- Westville with funding from the World Health Organization. SACENDU is a network of researchers, practitioners and policy makers from all areas of South Africa. Members of SACENDU meet every six months to provide community-level public health surveillance of alcohol, tobacco and other drug (ATOD) use trends and associated consequences through the presentation and discussion of quantitative and qualitative research data. Through this initiative, SACENDU provides descriptive information on the nature and pattern of ATOD use, emerging trends, risk factors associated with ATOD use, characteristics of vulnerable populations, and consequences of ATOD use in South Africa.