HRB 2023 EMCDDA Research services to report drug prevalence, health correlates of drug use, consequences of drug use and prison data to the EMCDDA update of Estimation of Problem Drug Use – 2024-27

Tender description

The Health Research Board (HRB) is a statutory agency under the aegis of the Department of Health. As the lead agency in Ireland responsible for supporting and funding health research, generating health information and promoting the use of evidence in policy and practice, we are motivated and inspired by our vision – for better health through excellent research, data and evidence. The HRB’s mission is to support research that improves people's health, promotes evidence-informed care and creates solutions to societal challenges. An overview of the HRB’s objectives and activities may be found in The HRB Strategy 2021-2025, Health research - making an impact, (https://www.hrb.ie/strategy-2025/). The HRB is the Irish National Focal Point to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA). The National Focal Point uses contract research services to report on a number of topics as part of its EMCDDA National Reporting Package. The term for the current contract for reporting on sociological indicators will finish at the end of 2023. The National Focal Point needs to contract an epidemiologist with strong data analysis skills to report on these indicators to meet its EMCDDA national report obligations for the years 2024 to 2027 inclusive. Fulfilling the Irish EMCDDA National Focal Point’s reporting requirements The research service will help to fulfil specific requirements of the EMCDDA contract and the requirements of other international organisations. It will also be required to prepare report synopses and articles and other dissemination materials. The assigned researcher will analyse epidemiological datasets and prepare selected data for submission to the EMCDDA according to EMCDDA specifications. The research support will also collect information from research papers and reports, policy documents and on-going research to provide a complete picture of the situation in Ireland relating to the drug-related topics mentioned in the background section. The research service will be required to prepare sections of Ireland’s annual national report for the EMCDDA containing the main results of new research, studies and surveys including a brief description of methods, sources, results, discussions and references. The description places findings of the studies in an Irish context and identifies study limitations. Data are submitted through standard tables and structured questionnaires according to EMCDDA instructions. The research support will work on the key indicators.