Report on drug addiction: close coordination among government departments stressed

The Provincial Committee on Drug Addiction has finalised and submitted its final report to the health department, containing a comprehensive plan to curb this menace besides suggesting measures for rehabilitation of such persons.
Committee Chairman Brigadier Dr Saeed A Akhtar (Retd) said that while preparing the report, the system adopted by Malaysia, USA, European and other countries were also studied for guidance.
He said that the Committee has proposed only practicable measures to the government. "Moreover, it was suggested that though different government departments and agencies were active in this field but there was a dire need for close co-ordination among them to get the desired results.
The report also discussed the causes for the spread of this menace," he added.
According to him, the report covers five aspects, which include mapping of addicts, registration of addicts, treatment of addicts through teaching hospitals besides DHQ, THQ hospitals and even RHCs & BHUs. As rehabilitation of addicts, it could take four weeks to three months or even a year it is necessary to keep the addict in suitable atmosphere besides providing support to his or her dependents, if needed.
Imparting training in different skills and professions for earning livelihood is also an important feature of this plan because it is a part of treatment to keep the addict busy and to enable him/her to remain engaged in some useful job for self-sufficiency.
The fifth and the last aspect of the report emphasises that monitoring of the project on each stage right from sub division up to provincial level was must. If this task is taken seriously, then it would be pertinent to establish a hierarchy of its own, comprising experts having will to run the business in the right direction.
It may be mentioned here that following the Prime Minister's directive for rehabilitation of drug addicts, the Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi had constituted a provincial committee.
The other members of the Committee included Dr Muhammad Aslam Chaudhry, Director General of Health Services Punjab, Dr Saad Bashir, head of the Psychiatry Department Allama Iqbal Medical College, Dr Nasir Saeed Khan, head of Psychiatry Department, Dr Khalid Mughal, Consultant Psychiatrist, PIMH, and Dr Shamshad Ahmad Gill, Consultant Psychiatrist, Allama Iqbal Medical College Sialkot.