With rise in drug abuse, establishing specialized de-addiction centres inevitable
Functioning in a Community Hospital that stands right in the compound of valley’s premier hospital SMHS, a Drug De-addiction Centre manned by the Department of Psychiatry, is craving for the immediate facelift.
The centre has been curing chronic drug addicts from last many years, from patients who are dependent on certain drugs to the patients who used to take narcotics like Heroin and Cannabis.
The officials at the centre are worried about the increase in drug abuse in the valley, and said that there has been no focus in spreading mass awareness among the youth regarding the drug abuse.
“There somehow has been not that much of focus in creating mass awareness among youth regarding the abuse of drugs, if that is done, the situation will change to a larger extent,” said Dr. Yasir Rather, who is posted at the centre.
A 30 bedded Drug de-addiction centre runs in-sync with the Mental Diseases Hospital, as they are maintaining a balance in running both the institutions with the staff they have been provided with.
“We have a limited staff here, and with this limited staff we have to run this centre,” said Dr. Zaid Ahmad Wani.
The concerned officials have submitted a proposal to the state government that aims at establishing the centre as the state of art, but the proposal is yet to be sanctioned by the government.
The centre is also starting a facility for children-a separate block has been kept for the facility, which will start its functioning in coming days.
With what has been provided to the centre by the government, it is providing proper recreational opportunities to the inmates, and apart from that it is also providing a separate section for female patients.
The stay of patients is not that long in the hospital, as there is a set protocol to treat those who visit the facility for the medical help.
“We initially analyze what sort of addict the patient is, then we treat withdrawal symptoms, and after that we discharge the patient to be brought regularly for the follow ups,” said Dr. Yasir Rather.
With rising drug abuse in Kashmir, as earlier reported by this newspaper, with it being at its pinnacle in South Kashmir, there seems to be a serious need of establishing more such facilities, with face-lifting the existing centres, especially in Srinagar.
Experts say that if the centre in the compound of SMHS hospital is developed on modern lines it has got a potential to cater to wide needs of the people living in the city, even more, it can set a standard for rest of such institutions that may be established elsewhere.
KV Correspondent
