14 deptts, institutions to play role in bringing down substance abuse
All District Hospitals to have full-fledged treatment facility
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Dec 22: State Administrative Council (SAC) headed by Governor Satya Pal Malik is likely to approve Jammu and Kashmir’s first-ever Drug De-addiction Policy next week to check the menace from perpetuating further. A total of 14 departments and institutions will play role in the implementation of the policy and to bring down substance abuse.
The draft of the policy was prepared by Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Government Medical College Srinagar in collaboration with Department of Psychiatry, SKIMS Medical College Srinagar and J&K State AIDS Control Society on the directions of the Department of Health and Medical Education.
It was put in the public domain on October 27, 2018 for inviting comments and suggestions from the academicians, civil society organisations, Government departments and general public so that suitable improvements could be made.
Subsequently, several important suggestions were incorporated in the draft and few days back the final draft was forwarded to the Chief Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam by the Principal Secretary to Government, Health and Medical Education Department Atul Dulloo for the approval of the State Administrative Council.
“The first ever-Drug De-addiction Policy is likely to be cleared by the State Administrative Council next week so as to pave the way for setting into motion the implementation process”, official sources told EXCELSIOR.
They further said, “the Governor’s Administration doesn’t want to waste more time in effectively tackling the substance abuse which has already seen steep rise during the past some years”, adding “studies conducted in recent years have shown an alarming shift in the pattern of substance use in terms of rise in the number of female users, decreasing age of first-use, increased use of solvents and inject-able opiates”.
“The scientific data based on community surveys on drug related problems in J&K shows that deaths have started occurring directly due to over-dosages, convulsions and cardiac arrests and indirectly due to road traffic accidents”, they further said, adding “drug over-dose is quickly becoming a common emergency in the hospitals and if a proper policy is not followed to curb the menace there will be a loss of a generation”.
Disclosing that policy is based on the preventive model which involves prevention at primordial, primary, secondary and tertiary levels, they said, “the primary focus of the policy will be on 4As——Increasing Awareness, Restrict Availability to Drugs, Increase Affordability and Accessibility to Treatment Programmes and Promoting Activities that protect against substance abuse”.
At present there are only two Government run Drug De-addiction Centres in whole of the State—one at SMHS Hospital Srinagar and GMC Hospital Jammu besides some de-addiction facilities being provided by Jammu and Kashmir Police. There is lack of such facilities in Ladakh region.
The policy will be implemented by 14 departments and institutions namely Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences Kashmir/ Government Psychiatric Diseases Hospital Jammu, Directorate of Health Services Jammu/Kashmir, SKIMS Medical College Srinagar and five new District Medical Colleges and Hospitals, Jammu and Kashmir Police, Department of Education, Excise and Taxation Department, Police and Intelligence Department, Department of Social Welfare, J&K State AIDS Control Society, Youth Services and Sports Department, NGOs working in the field of de-addiction and Directorate of Information and Public Relations.
There will be proper policy monitoring and implementation mechanism in the form of State Level Committee headed by the Chief Secretary and De-Addiction Centres Monitoring Committee. The State Level Committee will monitor the implementation of policy on ground and suggest changes from time to time besides look for financial support for various de-addiction activities.
The De-Addiction Centres Monitoring Committee will inspect facilities and grant or cancel licenses after proper inspection of infrastructure, manpower and standards of care. The committee will also look at monitoring of prescription drug abuse and suggest remedial measures to Drug Controller.
Under the policy, De-addiction Centres of GMC Srinagar and Jammu will be upgraded in terms of infrastructure and manpower to enhance the care level and provide linkage to the community. Moreover, there will be Drug De-addiction Centres in all the upcoming Medical Colleges in the State and all the District Hospitals will have full-fledged treatment facility along with sufficient manpower.
There will also be required focus on implementation of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act in letter and spirit, sources said.
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