This report presents the results of a symposium attended by health representatives (nursing, social work, psychology) of eight European governments who met in accordance with target 17 of the World Health Organization (WHO), "Decreasing health-damaging behaviour," to examine the reorientation of education (substance abuse) for health personnel to make it more relevant to health needs. The report first describes the symposium's purpose, scope, and various sessions. Next, discussions are presented concerning current training availability of various groups of health professionals regarding substance abuse, as well as what was found to exist in undergraduate medical student education, and within the medical specialties. This is followed by discussions of the organization of training for the trainers of drug and alcohol abuse education programs, and the use of multiprofessional and multidisciplinary training. Finally, it is concluded that national planning efforts are needed in the coordination of substance abuse training, that international cooperation should be maintained in the form of a European network of substance abuse training centers, and bilateral or multilateral exchanges, and that an international catalogue of training resources should be developed and disseminated. The report concludes with several recommendations on the objectives and technologies of substance abuse training for health professionals. Appendices contain a list of participants, working papers and background documents. In addition summaries of the report provided in French, German, and Russian. (GLR)