An extended meeting of the coordination council on the prevention and combating of drug addiction was held in Lutsk. At the meeting, the dangerous situation with the spread of drug addiction and HIV infection that exists in Volyn was discussed. As noted by the deputy governor of Volyn, Volodymyr Karpuk, who will now head this council, the situation in this area in the region is discouraging. He also noted that the work carried out so far in Volyn has not yielded the desired results. After all, during the month-long campaign held this year in the region, only 6 minor drug addicts and 27 adults were registered, which indicates the low effectiveness of the work. Volodymyr Karpuk also noted that often, in the conduct of general measures, an individual approach to each drug-dependent person and offender is often lost. In addition, evidence of gaps in the work is the number of crimes related to illegal drug trafficking. In the five months of this year, 316 of them were registered, which is almost a third more than during this period last year. The surge in these crimes, according to Mr. Karpuk, is taking place in Lutsk, Horokhiv, Lutsk, Kivertsi, Kamin-Kashyrskyi, Lyuboml, Manevychi, Ratne and Turiisk districts. Therefore, at the meeting it was decided: to provide Volyn residents with informational materials on the prevention of drug addiction and HIV/AIDS, to raise the qualification level of teachers, social workers, and deputies of the regional authorities on this issue through courses at the institute of postgraduate education and in every educational institution of Volyn. In addition, in Lutsk, with the support of the All-Ukrainian charitable organization "All-Ukrainian Harm Reduction Association," they plan to create a syringe exchange point for injecting drug users. And by August 1 of this year, the mayor of Lutsk, Anton Kryvytskyi, must adopt a decision and allocate premises for an anonymous drug addiction treatment office.