E-Paper
2.74 lakh addicts under treatment at OOATs in Punjab
As per data Gurdaspur district has the highest number of patients (35,000) registered in the state followed by Bathinda (24,399) while Tarn Taran is in third place with 21,000.
Punjab has around 2.74 lakh addicts under treatment at 529 Outpatient Opioid Assisted Treatment (OOAT) clinics in the state, according to state health department data. The data further reveals that the Gurdaspur district that has the highest number of patients (35,000) registered in the state followed by Bathinda (24,399) while Tarn Taran is in third place with 21,000. According to officials, 18,628 new addicts have joined OOAT till September 30 this year. Last year, the figure on the corresponding day was 2.55 lakh.
The Punjab government had launched the OOAT clinics as part of its rehabilitation programme in October 2017. Under this program, the addicts are given a combination of medicines as a substitute for drugs.
Confirming the mounting number of addicts under treatment, Dr Sandeep Singh, state nodal officer, the national mental health programme, said that it was a major accomplishment for their programme.
He added that once the drug addict starts taking medicines the harm-reduction ensues. “Deaths due to overdose and spread of HIV and hepatitis B diseases reduce immediately when addicts start taking medicines at the clinics. Along with this, our counsellors at the clinics also work on the psychosocial aspect of the addicts so that they don’t resume,” he added.
Punjab health minister Dr Balbir Singh believes that the spike number of drug patients at OOAT clinics is the result of the government’s sincere efforts to tighten the noose around the drug supply chain, and drug addicts being compelled to seek treatment.
“Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, last year, had increased the number of OOAT by extending them to the primary health centres (PHCs). Earlier, OOAT clinics were functional only at sub-divisional and district hospitals,” he said.
This year in March Dr Balbir Singh had informed the state legislative assembly that there are almost 10 lakh drug addicts in state-operated and privately-run de-addiction centres in Punjab, adding that the figures (in public domain) are underreported.
He said this while speaking on the menace of drug addiction in the state. “There 2.62 lakh addicts in government-run centres and 6.12 lakh addicts in the privately-run centres, but in my opinion, the number is much higher,” he said, raising concern over the rate of cure for the addicts which according to him is negligible - 1.5% in case of government-run de-addiction centres and 0.04% in privately run centres. In comparison to the rate of cure, the government has spent ₹ 102 crore on de-addiction, added Dr Balbir Singh.
As per the data, the doctors at the various OOT centres are reporting that youngsters between the ages of 18 and 24 years are coming for treatment.
A doctor posted at OOAT Centre in Patiala, pleading anonymity, said, “Teenagers as young as 15 are coming for the treatment. When we take the history of the patients, most of the youngsters first start with gateway drugs – like alcohol and cigarettes. Once they get addicted to the gateway drugs, they shift to opioids.”
