Drug-related treatment

The Treatment Demand Indicator Protocol (hereafter referred to as the TDI Protocol) plays an important role among the Centre’s five key epidemiological indicators which provide a broad, comparative description of the state of, and trends in drug use in Europe. 
The aim of this protocol was to provide drug professionals and researchers with a standardised methodology for collecting and reporting core data on drug users in contact with treatment services.

The purpose of the TDI Protocol as a basis for the data-collection processes co-ordinated by the EMCDDA is to provide comparable, reliable and anonymous information on the number and characteristics of people being treated for their drug use in Europe. Information on the numbers and profile of problem drug users and their patterns of use (injection, multiple drug use) can help to identify tendencies in the use of services, to assess resource needs and to plan and evaluate services for drug users. This information also indicates trends in problem drug use and provides fertile ground for more in-depth assessments of the prevalence of such use .
The objective of the TDI Protocol is to define the minimum data set (the core item list) which national treatment-monitoring systems should be able to provide on each individual admitted to treatment. Data are collected on the following areas: