While prevention science has advanced over the past 30 years
in terms of the conceptualisation and accumulation of evidence of effective interventions and policies, prevention in real-life practice lags behind in most EU Member States.

Prevention providers often use unproven and ineffective prevention strategies without scientific foundations. Evidence however suggests that the success of prevention interventions depends not only on whether effective interventions are available,
but also to a greater extent on the people who implement them and their level of training.

The Universal Prevention Curriculum (UPC) will be pilot-implemented in 9 EU Member States (Belgium, Czech Republic, Croatia, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Poland, Slovenia and Spain). The UPC was developed through the US-based organization APSI (Applied Prevention Science International) with renowned prevention researchers in the US.

It is based on UNODC’s International Standards on Drug Use Prevention and the EDPQS (European Drug Prevention Quality Standards).