Rs 118.5 million project for community awareness approved

The Ministry of Narcotics Control has approved the projects costing Rs 118.5 million to create awareness among public for ending drug menace. Sources told Business Recorder on Tuesday that the Ministry was committed to educate individuals, families and institutions against the threat posed by drug abuse particularly to youth suffering from Hepatitis and HIV/AIDS.
They said that these projects were aimed at reducing the drug demand and treating drug abusers so that they might live a normal life. They said that the number of drug addicts in the country had risen from four to five million out of which about 60,000 were heroine injectors adding that drug injectors had high risk of HIV/AIDS.
The ministry was emphasising on provision of information and analysis on regional trafficking trends, methods and routes to enable the law enforcement agencies to target drug traffickers in an effective manner, they said.
The country shares around 2,500 kilometers of its western border with Afghanistan that is the largest producer of opiates and the mountainous terrain coupled with several other factors making it impossible to off-set the impact of the large scale poppy cultivation in Afghanistan, they said.
The sources further said that the estimated value of narcotics business became $457 billion and criminal activities associated with drug trafficking and terrorism financed by illicit drug money had increased the threat to the stability of the neighbouring countries.
Available statistics disclose that intravenous drug users have become a high-risk source of HIV/AIDS epidemic and drug injection through syringes and needles becomes the root cause of transmission of HIV/AIDS, they said. They said that heroine, opium and hashish were the most common drugs, along with a wide variety of easily available pharmaceuticals such as analgesics, hypno-sedatives and tranquillisers.
Narco trade impacts all aspects of human security ranging from individual health and safety to socio-economic welfare and its consequences are particularly devastating for resource-constrained countries like Pakistan, they said.
They said that no society could remain unaffected by the disastrous consequences of illicit drug trade adding that an estimated 200 million people or 5 percent of the global population aged between 15 and 64 years, have consumed illicit drugs at least once in the last 12 months.
The government must establish Model Addiction Treatment and Rehabilitation Centers in cities and rural areas and a long-term strategy must also be framed by the government to materialise these projects, they said. They recommended that treatment and rehabilitation centers exclusively for women must also be established.