Chronicle Editor
Simba Jemwa, Sunday News Correspondent
DATA collection has been identified as one of the key factors hampering the national fight against drugs.
This was revealed by Anti-Drug Abuse Forum Zimbabwe executive director, Collin Mapfumo in an exclusive interview with Sunday News last week.
Mr Mapfumo said while his and other organisations as well the Government were heavily involved in the fight against drug abuse in the country, Zimbabwe has no reliable data base to quantify the use, rehabilitation and other critical information key to the fight against drug abuse.
The anti-drug abuse crusader said most of the country’s interventions for now, across all institutions are based on speculation, but that there is a serious drug and substance abuse problem in Zimbabwe cannot be denied.
“Data collection remains a challenge not only in Zimbabwe. Our health institutions such as hospitals, clinics and the criminal justice system which includes the Zimbabwe Republic Police, the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services and the courts lack mechanisms for collection of such data in terms of age, gender, class etc. which means it’s a gap which needs intervention.
“Much of what we documented on our Facebook page and commented on since 2017 is a product of research using observation, interviews and personal experience.
If you read our articles on the page, we have written on correlation or association between drugs and interpersonal violence, drug abuse and political thuggery, drug abuse and prostitution, drug abuse in tertiary institutions and analysed the general causes of drug and substance abuse in Zimbabwe,” he said.
Zimbabwe’s drug problem is more prevalent in most urban centers, with Harare and Bulawayo being the obvious ‘leaders’ because of high population and rapid urbanisation.
The health system has been struggling for years and as a result, rehabilitation in public health institutions is mostly limited to counselling.
“It is a fact that in Zimbabwe rehabilitation is not as it should be. And as a country, we have a shortage of clinical psychologists and psychiatrists.
In private institutions, their services are expensive which limits those who can access it which has drastically affected the way we work towards fighting drug abuse,” Mapfumo said.
At the beginning of the year, President Mnangagwa launched the National Anti-Drug and Substance Abuse campaign.
This was part of the Second Republic’s National Drug Master Plan (2020-2025) which offers both an integrated and comprehensive approach that will address a range of drug related issues including illicit and licit drugs.
Alcohol, marijuana, crystal meth (Mutoriro) and broncleer among others are the main drugs being abused especially by the youth.
Excessive use of alcohol and drugs damage the health of users and is linked to rises in addiction and non-communicable diseases including HIV/AIDS, cancer, heart diseases, psychological disorders and an increase in road traffic accidents. – @RealSimbaJemwa
Bongani Ndlovu