SAS Nagar, February 27: Deputy Commissioner Komal Mittal has stressed on a comprehensive awareness campaign against the problem of drug abuse in the district. For this, seminars will be organized in educational institutions. For this, the help of counselors and motivators will be taken, who have stayed away from drugs. While taking a review meeting of the District De-addiction and Rehabilitation Society, SAS Nagar, he reviewed the functioning of OOAT centers and de-addiction and rehabilitation centers running in the district.
He said that private de-addiction and rehabilitation centers should be inspected at regular intervals, so that the functioning can be monitored. He said that as per the instructions of the state government, the functioning of these OOAT centers, de-addiction and rehabilitation centers is being examined so that further improvements can be brought to save the youth from the evil of drug abuse.
The Deputy Commissioner, while approving the increase in the cost of food provided in the de-addiction and rehabilitation centers, also approved setting up of a canteen in the District De-addiction and Rehabilitation Center, Sector 66, Mohali. She took feedback from all the senior medical officers, psychiatrists and NGOs and patiently noted their suggestions so that they could be worked upon in the coming days.
She said that we should monitor the number of patients coming to Outpatient Opioid Assisted Treatment and propose to shift those centres which have the least number of patients or have no patients, to those areas where there is a high number of patients in OOAT centres.
She said that in the coming days she would visit de-addiction and rehabilitation centres besides OOAT centres to find out the functioning and need for infrastructure and other improvements. She stressed the need for maximum awareness as a preventive measure to alert school and college going youth against drug addiction.
Additional Deputy Commissioner Sonam Choudhary, Deputy Medical Commissioner Dr Parvinderpal Kaur, Assistant Civil Dr Girish Dogra, District Sports Officer Rupesh Kumar and SMOs and psychiatrists of government health facilities also attended the meeting and participated in the discussions to keep the youth away from drug abuse.