The Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital Kware in Sokoto State will soon commence operations in the newly established Women and Children Drug Dependent Centre.
The move is aimed at providing maximum succour to drugs related victims.
The Hospital’s Medical Director, Shehu Sale, disclosed this at an event to mark the 2019 International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking organised by the hospital in collaboration with members of Legal Advocacy Response to Drugs Initiative (LARDI) in Kware on Tuesday.
Mr Sale, an associate professor and master trainer with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), said the centre will serve as a hub on facilitating modern treatment and counselling to victims in Sokoto and the nearby states.
He underscored the importance of training of more personnel on psychiatry, noting that the rising cases of youths involvement in illicit drugs were a source of concern for all citizens.
Mr Sale explained that the hospital had experts to train and re-train health and auxiliary workers on mental health as well as other psychiatric needs.
“The hospital is in partnership with wife of Sokoto State Governor’s initiative in training of health workers and non-health personnel to strengthen advocacy, treatment of drug addicts and other mental issues.
“The partnership is set to provide avenue for medications and occupational therapy to empower beneficiaries to become self-reliant in the society,’’ he said.
He stressed that the hospital made it a priority to educate people on the dangers of substance abuse and mental illness in general with a view to reduce stigma and facilitate increased access to mental health facilities in the country.
Mr Sale emphasised that early report and diagnosis of mental ailments would help to curtail the number of cases and decried societal stigmatisation associated with mental health, saying it discourages people from seeking help.
He said that plans were underway to establish a family health clinic at the hospital to address the negative perception of people with regards to mental issues.
The Consultant Psychiatrist also expressed concern over the rising number of abandoned psychiatric patients at the hospital largely due to stigmatisation, saying that the situation has placed an additional burden on the hospital.
Responding, Group Leader, Rasheedat Muhammad, said the LARDI members are lawyers certified by UNODC to offer free legal service (pro-bono) to indigent drug victims.
Ms Muhammad said the aim was to ensure that drug arrestees derived access to justice.
She said LARDI would continue to partner with the hospital on its services and invest more on creating awareness against illicit drug consumption.
According to her, drug victims should be considered as sick people that require community attention, not stigmatisation.
She said LARDI also provide guidance and counselling to drug dependents victims and educate the public on dangers of drug trafficking along with other associated ills.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the LARDI members went round the hospital and inspected ongoing repairs by the federal government to give the facility a befitting face-lift.
(NAN)
No comments:
Post a Comment
We need your feed back on our topics please