'Youth in Europe' drug prevention programme sees youth drinking drop from 42% to 9% / Iceland and Actavis continue to support the fight against substance abuse (mit Bild)

Frankfurt, Germany (ots) -

- Cross reference: Picture is available via epa european
pressphoto agency and can be downloaded free of charge at:
http://www.presseportal.de/pm/66914?keygroup=bild -

The Youth in Europe (YIE) drug prevention programme has released
research tracking the incidence of smoking (daily), drinking and
cannabis experimentation amongst 15 to 16-year-old students in
Iceland from 1998 to 2011. And the results are astonishing.

The number of young people who got drunk within the last 30 days
has dropped from 42% in 1998 to just 9% in 2011. The level of
youngsters smoking on a daily basis has decreased from 23% to 5%, and
those experimenting with cannabis from 17% to 3%.

YIE is considered by many to be the biggest health promotion
project targeting youth substance abuse across Europe. This
evidence-based, international programme was initiated by European
Cities Against Drugs (ECAD) and is carried out in cooperation with
major European cities. Taking a broadly holistic approach, its aim is
to decrease the likelihood of substance use among young people. The
city of Reykjavík, Iceland, serves as the chair and provides
management for this programme, while research is conducted by the
Icelandic Centre for Social Research and Analysis (ICSRA).

Today at the Frankfurt Book Fair, the programme's principal
sponsor Actavis announced that it would be extending its backing of
the programme until 2016. This international pharmaceutical company,
which has its roots in Iceland, is also a sponsor of the Icelandic
Pavilion at the Book Fair, and made its announcement alongside YIE's
patron, the President of Iceland, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson.

Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, President of Iceland and Patron of Youth
in Europe said: "It is a tragedy to see young people all over Europe
fall prey to dangerous drugs. It is our duty to protect our youth
from this scourge and the criminals who run this business. We all
have to think constructively about how we can contribute to this
important fight. The most productive way is to base our actions on
scientific knowledge and social research demonstrating which
preventive programmes produce the most successful results. The
gathering of knowledge in Iceland is of this nature and it is a
privilege to bring it now to the benefit of others and thus help
families and young people to lead a healthy and happy life."

Claudio Albrecht, CEO of Actavis said:

"The younger adolescents are when they start drinking alcohol, the
more likely they are to become abusers of drugs later in life. This
is one of the key findings of the studies to date. The research shows
that spending time with parents is important in decreasing the
likelihood of substance misuse, while having friends who misuse
substances can increase the likelihood. Adolescents who participate
in sports, organised youth work and extra-curricular activities in
school, are less likely than other adolescents to use drugs. This
means that we need to activate all at once, the family, the peer
group, the school, those who organize youth activities and
authorities in order to succeed in fighting substance use", said the
CEO. "Experts in Iceland have spent more than a decade researching
the factors that contribute most to the prevention of drug abuse, and
Icelandic society has been mobilised in this fight. Today we are a
global company, yet we remain extremely proud of our Icelandic roots
and we are determined to help disseminate this valuable approach
throughout Europe. That's why we have now extended our sponsorship
until 2016."

About Actavis Group

Actavis is one of the world's leading generic pharmaceutical
companies, specialising in the development, manufacture and sale of
generic pharmaceuticals. The company has operations in 40 countries,
with 10,000 employees. For further information on Actavis Group,
please visit www.actavis.com

Note to editors:

Cities participating in the YIE drug prevention programme include:
Reykjavik, Oslo, Helsinki, Riga, Vilnius, Sofia, Bucharest, Istanbul,
St. Petersburg, Liepaja, Jurmala, Arilje, Kaunas and Klaipeda. Milan
and Moscow have recently signed up to the programme. By the autumn of
2012, ECAD plans to have 25 cities participating and at least 50
cities by 2016.

In addition to the research conducted in Reykjavik, two pilot
studies have been carried out in the other cities. A minimum of 2,800
students participated in the research in each city. The research is
used to evaluate the most effective prevention measures. Young people
and their families, schools, youth clubs and authorities, are then
mobilised in a cooperative effort to combat substance abuse.

Enquiries
Actavis Group
Frank Staud
EVP Corporate Communication
Tel: +41 79 230 95 78
E-mail: fstaud@actavis.com

Youth in Europe / ICSRA Jon Sigfusson
Tel.: +354 825 6431
E-mail: jon@rannsoknir.is