Free Meth rehab centre awaits patients in Peshawar

Inaugurated on Jan 28, the facility remained non-functional due to the absence of doctors and support staff

Empty beds wait for patients in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s first Ice Rehabilitation Center for the addicts of methamphetamine drug. The facility was inaugurated on January 28 by CM Mahmood Khan.

However, the centre, a project of the Peshawar district government, remained non-functional due to absence of doctors and supporting staff. Finally, after a week’s closure, the city district government appointed three doctors for the rehab centre. The facility offers free diagnosis, treatment along with free boarding, lodging food and clothing to substance abuse victims who check in for treatment of their addiction.

“The PTI government has set up the first ever ice rehabilitation centre in the province providing free food , lodging and rehabilitation for addicts of the crystal-meth along with providing them training facilities to make them useful citizens of society” CM Masood had said.

Addressing the gathering the CM described the rehab centre as a unique and historic one where the neglected segment of the society who develop physiological barriers for multiple reasons could be rehabilitated making them useful citizens not only to contribute to the society but to be able to stand on their own feet.

The centre is equipped with all latest facilities under one roof having hundred  beds and a pharmacy for the provision of free medicines in Peshawar.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 6^th, 2019.