KARACHI: The Sindh health department and the provincial Task Force on Drugs Demand Reduction and Substance Misuse launched on Saturday a comprehensive policy and plan to tackle the growing menace of drug addiction in the province in collaboration with other partners.

The initiative — Substance Misuse Prevention, Treatment Policy and Implementation Plan —launched at the Dow University of Health Sciences, is supported by Pakistan Institute of Living and Learning (PILL) and Manchester University.

Highlighting salient features of the policy and action plan, task force member and senior psychiatrist Dr Salman Shehzad said that a 24/7 helpline would be launched and anti-tobacco and anti-drug committees would be set up. “Support would be extended to rehab centres and awareness would be created to address stigma and discrimination. Also, we would promote collaboration among stakeholders and initiate evidence-based research.”

Prof Imran B Chaudhry, heading the provincial task force and also representing PILL, shared that substance use disorders was the second leading cause of disability worldwide and that cannabis, alcohol, and tobacco often acted as a gateway to harder drug use.

“It’s estimated that 284 million people use drugs worldwide and 35.6m people suffer from substance use disorder,” he said, adding that tobacco use caused eight million deaths each year while second-hand smoke caused 1.2m deaths.

The province of Sindh, he said, was home to about 100,000 injecting drug users and an estimated 570,000 people used opioids.

During the programme, speakers shared their concerns over the growing sale of drugs, especially in and around educational institutions and called for collaboration among all stakeholders to join hands, share information, create awareness and help enforce law.

“How could educational institutions stop supplies of drugs? At Dow University, we carried an investigation and came to know that drugs were being supplied through rickshaw drivers as well as riders who entered the campus on the excuse of delivering lunch boxes to students,” DUHS Vice Chancellor Prof Saeed Quraishy told the audience.

He added that the university administration managed to sort out the matter with the help of Rangers.

Caretaker Education Minister Rana Hussain said vape shops had opened in Karachi at every nook and corner. “When warning is issued to one vendor, he argues why other shops are being allowed to operate. It’s unfortunate that students vape proudly without knowing the impact of the addiction on their health,” she said, while calling for a law to close down these shops permanently.

Caretaker Health Minister Dr Saad Khalid Niaz and Home Minister Haris Nawaz also spoke.

Published in Dawn, December 10th, 2023