Call for national drug rehabilitation centre

Page 3: Daily Graphic, September 2, 2009.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Head of the Accra Psychiatric Hospital, Dr Akwasi Osei, has called for the establishment of a national drug rehabilitation and treatment centre to manage drug-related ailments.
He said the alarming rate of drug abuse called for an urgent establishment of a drug centre to deal with the problem.
Officially, he said, the Accra Psychiatric Hospital was recording an average of three drug-related cases a day, while many more went unreported.
He said Ghanaians had also resorted to injecting drugs which meant that drug abuse was quite extensive and “again it means the drug issue is getting out of hand”.
Dr Osei told the Daily Graphic in an interview that the resort to drug injection meant that abusers had reached the maximum level of drug abuse.
“We did not know it existed in the country until some of our patients informed us about it,” he said.
He said crime associated with drug abuse, particularly drug injection, was high.
That, he explained, was because withdrawing from drug injection was painful and the user often had to commit crime to generate the cash to replace drugs.
Dr Osei said the government should not look at the cost of establishing the drug centre but should assess the benefits to be derived from it.
According to him, most drug abusers did not report to the psychiatric hospitals because they argued they were not mad.
He said some of the drug abusers found it stigmatising to visit the public psychiatric hospitals for assistance.
“That is why we need a national drug rehabilitation centre outside the public psychiatric hospitals,” he said.
Dr Osei said that would also mean building the human resource base of psychiatrists, occupational therapists and nurses, among others, to help deal with the management of drug abuse problems effectively.
Presently, he said, there were only five psychiatrists in active service when there should have been 30 in the ideal situation.
He said the government must outline incentive packages for people to be drawn into mental health practice, since the low incentives and risks associated with it did not encourage people to enter the profession.
Dr Osei, therefore, called on the government to ensure the passage of the Mental Health Bill to provide the framework to deal with mental health issues in the country.
He reminded the government and society at large that the drug menace could destroy the peace and stability prevailing in the country.
“It would become difficult to go out to certain places or at certain times of the day,” he added.
Dr Osei said research had shown in the United States of America (USA) that the government got back eight dollars on every dollar spent on drug treatment and rehabilitation.
“We should not fear spending money on drug issues because we will reap it back,” he said.
He said some drug abusers started as early as nine years old but said those who stayed in it for long died by the age of 45 or were either in prison or on sick beds.
“It is rare for any person to use drugs beyond the age of 45. Seventy per cent of users start in their teens and die before they reach 45 years,” he said.
As to which class of persons often abuse the drugs, Dr Osei said in the past, it used to be those in the high class but said that trend was changing in all segments of society.
That situation, he explained, was because cocaine and heroin were now being adulterated, which made it affordable for anyone to access it.