ABOUT

    LAMSA (Lebanese Association of Medical Services for Addiction) is a non-profit non-governmental organization (NGO) (Registered at the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities #1249, on the 7/10/2013), was founded by Dr Zeina Assaf Moukarzel.

    Two different experiences were behind the project.

    During her long practice as Critical Care and Burn physician, Dr Moukarzel saw an increasing number of patients admitted for drugs overdose. Adding to that, the daily painkillers’ prescription sensitized her to the problem of iatrogenic addiction.

    She also noticed, in the everyday life, the lack of awareness and trivialization of the use of tobacco, alcohol and cannabis (marijuana) in particular among the youth.

    Mission

    The Lebanese Association of Medical Services for Addiction (LAMSA) fosters evidence-based medical education and awareness of addiction, mental health, co-occurring physical health and wellbeing issues while advocating for the de-stigmatization of those diseases.

    In LAMSA, we prioritize our services toward the most frequent consumed substances by youth such as tobacco, alcohol and cannabis (Marijuana), with a particular highlight on the link between cannabis use and psychosis.

    LAMSA also advocates for the implementation of effective and affordable strategies that systematically screen children, teens and youth for psychological, mental, environmental and other risk factors for addiction and behavior, with the aim to promote a sustainable and healthy community for the future.

    Our added value is the know-how of listening and communicating with empathy and compassion.

    Vision

    LAMSA aims to educate youth across Lebanon, the Middle East and Lebanese youth worldwide, about the importance of their mental health and wellbeing.

    It is dedicated to empower teens and youth by evidence-based knowledge to take the right decisions concerning their health, lifestyle and behaviors.

    Our vision is to strive for a healthy and fruitful generation, society and nation by investing in the promotion of youth’s health and wellbeing.

    Objectives

    • Reach youth (but also families, Health Care Professionals and organizations) through our platform, social media (in particular Instagram) and other technology
    • Engage youth (13 and 25 years) in our mission, by publishing on our platform
    • Use multimedia and artistic strategies to deliver evidence-based and appropriate messages
    • Messages should aim to empower teens and youth to:
      • Recognize and cope with their emotions
      • Screen themselves for distress symptoms and/or psychological issues
      • Encourage them to talk about their mental health, wellbeing, drugs use/addiction and seek help as early as possible
      • Take the right decisions concerning their health and wellbeing by encouraging them to engage in healthy activities like sports, volunteer works, art, music…

     

    • Develop the culture of a positive peer-to-peer support
    • Change the way we talk about mental health and addiction by being positive and non-judgmental
    • Organize workshop to a group of volunteers to deliver talks at their schools/university or workplace
    • Have ambassadors among Lebanese students worldwide
    • Support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal #3: Ensuring healthy lives and promoting the well-being at all ages by 2030
      • Goal #3.5: Strengthen the prevention and treatment of substance abuse, including narcotic drug abuse and harmful use of alcohol
      • Goal #3.10: Strengthen the implementation of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control

     

    Board Members

      Dr Zeina Assaf Moukarzel

      Founder, President, Official representative

      Fr. Fady El Chidiac, S.J.

      Vice-President

      Mr Elias Salameh

      Attorney at law, Treasurer

      Fr. Salah Abou Jaoude, S.J.

      Secretary

      Dr Diane Ghanem

      Member

      Fr. Victor Assouad, S.J.

      Member

      Mr Badih Moukarzel

      Attorney at law, Member