Islamabad 'needs more' public drug addiction facilities

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by Change | 8 Mar 2010

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There are calls for more publicly funded drug addiction facilities to be established in Islamabad, the Pakistani capital.

More public sector drug addiction centres are needed in Islamabad as the majority of would-be patients cannot afford private fees.

This is according to Pakistani newspaper The News, which warned that, despite there being large numbers of people willing to give up their addiction, many cannot because of the lack of drug addiction facilities in the public sector.

Limited free services are provided in the Pakistani capital by the Model addiction treatment and Rehabilitation Centre, although its waiting lists are unacceptably long.

An official from the centre told the Associated Press of Pakistan: "At present around 1,000 patients are on the waiting list with us."

The official went on to say that each patient normally required around 45 days of drug addiction therapy and that it was "most difficult" to cater for everyone in need of drug addiction support who comes to the centre.

While tens of private drug addiction facilities are opening in Islamabad, the majority of the city's poorer citizens cannot afford anything beyond living expenses, food and medicine.

There are an estimated five million drug users in Pakistan, the Karachi Port Trust said last summer. It called for new measures to halt the supply of drugs coming into the country.

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