The International Society of Addiction Medicine (ISAM) is dedicated to providing a supportive, educational network to physicians in the addiction medicine field through electronic communication, and the development of consensual position papers on a number of issues relevant to the practice of physicians, research in all fields relating to drug addiction and annual meetings for education and dissemination of information on advances in the field through the presentations of speakers worldwide while also providing opportunities for practitioners from low economic countries to present and share investigations. An International Certification has also been established. ISAM has thus been working for several years to promote better understanding among the physicians and allied health professionals world wide in the field of addiction medicine of the connection between drug abuse, psychological, and psychiatric consequences, and lately infections including HIV. One of the most significant outcomes of this collaboration has been the recognition that substance abuse is associated with medical and psychiatric consequences among populations regardless of race, gender, or ethnicity and that are global in nature. The dream is to build a strong, united, informed medical voice speaking on behalf of our patients as we participate in the prevention and management of addictions worldwide in full collaboration with other disciplines. Funds are being sought through the present grant application to support the annual meetings 2008-2012 which will be held in different countries. Oporto, Portugal was the site for 2006;Cairo, Egypt 2007 is in the advanced stages of preparation. Cape Town, South Africa is the proposed site for 2008, Calgary, Canada for 2009, Sydney, Australia for 2010, and the sites for 2011 and 2012 are yet to be determined.
