Helping people with addictions: ‘Rehabilitation more important than treatment’

LRH doctor says government should speed up efforts to establish rehab centre announced earlier.

PESHAWAR: Doctors working at Lady Reading Hospital’s Drug Abuse Treatment Centre have stressed on the need for proper rehabilitation of patients who have addictions after their treatment is completed and they are discharged.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, the unit’s Dr Shair Naeem said the most important factor needed to bring people with addictions back to living a healthy life is continuous rehabilitation which is not possible at a hospital, as it only keeps patients for a short duration.

After receiving treatment at the hospital, around 80% of drug addicts fall prey to the same environment they should not be going back to, said Dr Naeem, adding doctors can only treat or at best offer counselling.

“We are doctors and give proper medical assistance, but it’s the environment that decides the future of someone with addictions after being discharged after treatment,” Dr Naeem said.

He added the unit’s doctors remain in contact with the family and hold fortnightly meetings with them after the patient has been discharged.

According to Dr Naeem, complete rehabilitation is a long process requiring a healthy environment and is not possible in a hospital. He said the government needs to speed up efforts after announcing that a rehabilitation centre would be set for addicts.



“Fighting off a drug addiction is very hard and concrete efforts are needed on the part of relevant authorities to help them with it,” said Dr Naeem. He added non-profit organisations have been trying to help rehabilitate patients but positive results have not been seen yet.

A helping hand

The LRH drug centre has been helping people addicted to opium, hashish, heroin as well as alcohol. If a patient is referred to the unit, they are treated at the facility for 10-15 days or more depending on the nature of the case, before being let go.

The provincial government has already announced the establishment of a rehabilitation centre at LRH and has been working with non-government organisations for this purpose.

According to a government official, a memorandum of understanding has been signed under which teams will be searching for drug addicts in the provincial capital and shifting them to the rehab centre. The decision to establish such a facility was taken upon the recommendations of three different committees, he said, adding committees’ members included the minister for social welfare and everything was monitored by the chief minister himself.

“As far as I know, once the project is implemented, the cost per patient would be Rs4,500,” said the official, requesting anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Report 2013, K-P has the highest rate of drug use in Pakistan, at 10.9%, that is 2,376,000 people of the adult population are using drugs.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 25^th, 2015.