This document presents the English version of the Government of Portugal's 2023 National Plan for the Reduction of Addictive Behaviours and Dependencies 2030 and Horizon 2024 Action Plan.

The XXIII Constitutional Government programme has made it a priority for the health promotion to continue the intervention targeting the main risk factors, particularly in policies aimed at promoting healthy diet and physical activity, tackling obesity, smoking and alcohol excess. In this context, the Interministerial Council for the  problems of Drugs, Drug Addiction and the Harmful Use of Alcohol approved the National Plan for the Reduction of Addictive Behaviours and Dependencies 2013-2020 (PNRCAD) and the Action Plan for the Reduction of Addictive Behaviours and Dependencies 2013-2016...

Bearing in mind that the integrated approach in this area is multidimensional in nature, the Plans considered national structuring instruments, such as the last two National Health Plans. It is also important to emphasise the close links with the National Anti-Poverty Strategy 2021-2030, a document based on a comprehensive, multidimensional and transversal approach to articulating public policies. Internationally, the plans are aligned with other strategies and programmes such as the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Additionally, compliance is ensured with the three United Nations Conventions governing the production, trade and use of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, the general purpose of which is to limit the production, distribution and use of drugs for medical and scientific purposes. At the European level, the Plans are further aligned with the European Union Drugs Strategy (2021-2025) and the European Union Drugs Action Plan (2021- 2025), approved under the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union, which constitute the new European Union drug policy framework, reaffirming the evidence-based approach.

This results in a PNRCAD based on three pillars — Empower, Care and Protect — with the ultimate aim of building healthier communities, with fewer problems associated with the consumption of psychoactive substances and other behaviours with addictive potential; promoting the ability of citizens to deal with the challenges that everyday life poses to them in their various life settings, so that they have an experience as close as possible to achievement and well-being; and, finally, a healthy community that looks after all citizens, facilitating access to and the enhancement of the quality of interventions...