40th Anniversary Conference on Addiction Medicine

SAA

SAA (Society of Alcoholism and other Addictions) is an NGO that is the leading provider of addiction treatment and addiction medicine services in Iceland. Our addiction services are an integrated part of the national health care system. SAA operates a detoxification hospital plus three residential and outpatient rehabilitation centers as well as a center for family treatment and a social center in Iceland.

Finance

SAA is mostly financed with public funds through contract with the Ministry of Health and other agencies such as the Municipality of Reykjavík. SAA has been fortunate to have received good will and donations and up to 40% of costs are paid for by SAA funds collected from the public. Over the years, SAA has received much good will from the general public as well as various gifts and financial support.

Service

SAA services are delivered by a staff of experienced medical doctors, nurses, nurse´s assistants, psychologists and licensed addiction counselors. Detoxification and treatment at SAA-facilities is readily available to the Icelandic public. Our exhaustive database shows that we have provided treatment for substance use disorders to 10,6% of the country’s current population of adult men and 6% of its current population of women.

Data collection

SAA was founded 1977 by a dedicated group of people in recovery . More than 25.000 people have been admitted to detoxification with over 77000 admissions. The database created by SAA during this time has opened previously unknown possibilities for knowledge and information dissemination about the incidence and prevalence of substance use disorders in the country.