In accordance with the directives of His Excellency the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, and the Research and Development Department at the Ministry of Higher Education, the Al-Alamein Center for Continuing Education at the Al-Alamein Institute for Graduate Studies held the Iraqi Anti-Drug Week from November 16 to 19, 2025. The week included several scientific and educational seminars for the institute’s master’s and doctoral students in all departments, presented by the dean and professors of the institute and a number of officers from the Ministry of Interior specializing in combating drugs.
The activities of the Iraqi Anti-Drug Week included a lecture by Dr. Zaid Adnan Al-Akeeli, Dean of Al-Alamein Institute, during which he stressed the importance of the role played by the university professor in protecting young people within the university campus through awareness and opening discussion with students about the dangers of addiction, and his contribution to raising the level of awareness and enhancing the ability to make correct decisions.
During his lecture, Dr. Muhammad Yass Khodair, Head of the Political Science Department, stressed the importance of adhering to the approved national strategies, which form the basic framework for reducing drug use through integrated preventive and therapeutic plans. These include enhancing community awareness, developing early detection mechanisms, and supporting institutions specializing in treatment and rehabilitation. He emphasized the importance of partnership between the family, school, media, and security institutions in supporting comprehensive national efforts.
Dr. Khalid Khudair Daham, Assistant Dean for Administrative Affairs, also stressed the importance of education as a fundamental pillar in reducing drug abuse rates, through spreading awareness among students. He considered awareness programs and preventive curricula in scientific institutions as an important factor in building intellectual and behavioral immunity among young people, calling on the competent authorities to support educational initiatives aimed at prevention, confronting challenges and protecting Iraqi society.
Dr. Ali Adel Ismail Kashif Al-Ghita, Assistant Dean for Scientific Affairs, gave a lecture on artificial intelligence technologies and their role in combating drugs and psychotropic substances, explaining how modern technologies can analyze data and monitor behavioral patterns to predict cases of abuse and reduce their spread. He also explained the role of artificial intelligence in supporting prevention and awareness programs and providing effective solutions for early intervention.
Dr. Ahmed Khodair Abbas, Director of the Al-Alamein Center for Continuing Education, delivered a lecture in which he spoke about the role of continuing education centers in reducing drug use rates, spreading awareness and education among youth and adults about the dangers of drugs and the negative effects of drug use, stressing the support of community and educational efforts to reduce the spread of drugs.
Dr. Raji Nassir, the head of the media department at Al-Alamein Institute, also gave a lecture to the institute’s students that included the role of the media in confronting drug addiction at the primary prevention level by fortifying the individual, the family and society, explaining the extent of the danger and contributing to treatment.
Dr. Karar Haider Al-Sayigh, the rapporteur of the Law Department, presented on the vital role of the law in raising community awareness of the dangers of drugs, and that deterrent legislation and preventive measures are the first line of defense in reducing drug use and trafficking. We also focused on the importance of spreading legal awareness among young people to enhance their understanding of the penalties and serious social consequences.
Trainer Safaa Mahdi Al-Sultani from Al-Alamein Center for Continuing Education also gave a lecture in which he stressed that combating drugs is no longer the sole responsibility of security agencies, but rather a shared media and societal responsibility, and that innovative media campaigns are capable of changing behavior, raising awareness, and motivating young people to make more conscious decisions to confront this dangerous scourge.
The institute hosted Colonel Dr. Muhammad Hamza Kazem from the Directorate of Combating Organized Crime in Najaf, and Major Abbas Jaafar Musa, a legal expert from the Directorate of the Old City Narcotics Division in Najaf, to talk about the procedures of the Iraqi security services to confront and combat drugs, and to reduce their spread among society, especially among young people.
A delegation from the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research visited the institute to observe its activities in holding the Iraqi Anti-Drug Week.
