Srinagar, June 26: In the past 17 months, at least over 6,000 drug addict patients, most of them opioid users, have turned up for treatment at five Addiction Treatment Facilities (ATFs) established in the rural areas, officials said. Last year, the Directorate of Health Services Kashmir set up ATFs in five districts – Bandipora, Budgam, Kulgam, Pulwama and Shopian – which started functioning in 2021.
Dr Majid Shafi, Nodal Officer Mental Health and ATFs DHSK, said that till date, 6,000 drug addiction patients were registered and treated in the five ATFs in the rural areas. “Out of the 6,000 patients, 90 percent of them are opioid users. Among opioids, most of the cases were of heroin. Maximum were used IV fluids among opioid users. 30 to 45 percent of IV users had hepatitis C infection,” he said.
The ATFs were established in collaboration with National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre (NDDTC), AIIMS New Delhi to fight drug abuse, and mental health issues.
Quoting a survey on the prevalence of drug addiction in Kashmir, Shafi said 70,000 people are suffering from substance use problems in the valley. The survey was launched last year by DHSK in collaboration with GMC Srinagar, GMC Anantnag and GMC Baramulla and funded by the Social Welfare Department of Kashmir.
Shafi said in every ATF there is a medical officer, nurse, counselor and data manager who are trained by the National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre. Two more ATFs in Baramulla and Anantnag are run under new medical colleges in the two districts. The ATF in Srinagar runs under the control of SKIMS Medical College Srinagar. However, Ganderbal and Kupwara have no ATFs.
Spokesperson of the Directorate of Health Services Kashmir, Dr Mir Mushtaq said Kashmir was the first to make five ATFs functional. “It has added to treatment and counseling facilities in districts as a lot of people suffer from mental disorders and drug addiction,” he said.
In 2019, Jammu and Kashmir became the second ‘State’ in India that rolled out a drug de-addiction policy after Punjab in order to fight the rising drug menace. “We are working on prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation. We are working in collaboration with many departments like police, education, social welfare etc and there have been a lot of changes at the grassroots level,” the Nodal Officer Mental Health said, adding that the ATF teams also visit the jails in the districts and also aware them and also treat drug addicts who land in jails.
On the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, observed annually on June 26, awareness programs were held in hospitals of DHSK on Monday and the field staff of the ATFs and health workers were sent to schools and colleges to hold events. This year’s theme is “People First: stop stigma and Discrimination, strengthen Prevention.”
