In the Caribbean Community, care, treatment and rehabilitation of persons addicted to drugs are administered through public, private and Non Governmental organizations. In recent times and in response to unmet needs, a number of treatment facilities have been established. Many of these facilities are not guided by standards related to facilities, services and personnel. Additionally, the administration of these services is very often challenged by inadequate human resources, insufficiently trained personnel and lack of funds to establish and maintain structures and programmes.

The Caribbean Council for Science and Technology (CCST) is pleased to present, for the consideration of the leaders of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), this Regional Policy Framework for Science, Technology and Innovation (STI). It is now the only such document to be put forward by a regional body which attempts to specifically guide the region’s policy and decision-makers on building STI capacity to meet the pressing new demands of the knowledge-driven era.

The Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) has prepared this framework document at the request of CARICOM Heads of State participating in the First Congress for the Environmental Charter and Climatic Change, held at Ávila Mountain, Caracas, 11-13 October
2007.
 The strategic vision driving this regional strategy is to lay the ground for a “regional society and economy that is resilient to a changing climate.” The seriousness of the challenge global climate change (GCC) poses to the development prospects of small island and low-lying