dyton mupawaenda
Wallace Ruzvidzo-Herald Reporter
Rehabilitation centres are being set up by the Government in all 10 provinces, as efforts are ramped up to deal decisively with drug and substance abuse.
Speaking at a SAYWHAT National Students Conference on Saturday, the Ministry of Health and Child Care’s deputy director reproductive health Dr Lucia Gondongwe said Government was committed to ensuring eradication of drug and substance abuse, especially among the youth.
The SAYWHAT national students’ conference also coincided with its 20th anniversary celebrations.
“Currently, more than 60 percent of patients admitted in mental health institutions suffer from drug related issues, with more than 75 percent being young people,” she said.
“With such alarming statistics, this justifies the importance of continued engagement and advocacy to address the existing gaps and foster sustainable improvements in public health programming for young people.”
Dr Gondongwe said the Second Republic was tirelessly working on granting affordable quality health care to young people in Zimbabwe.
“It is high time that we prioritise research on the youth and their relationship with the public health sector beyond sexual and reproductive health,” she said.
“It was important that an enabling environment was cultivated for the youth to flourish.
“As the Ministry of Health, we consider this event historic in the context of the significant health challenges facing our youth that require attention.
Despite the remarkable progress we have made to ensure that our young people have access to affordable health, we still have a long journey in front of us.
“This journey requires the collective innovativeness and dynamism of our young people.
“This is a call to action for all of us in Government to ensure that we create spaces that will allow our young people to bring in new ideas on how we can design more relevant progress that meets the unique needs of different young people such as young people living with HIV, young people with disabilities, young people from rural areas and young people in early or forced marriages.”
Dr Gondongwe applauded efforts being spearheaded by SAYWHAT in combating drug and substance abuse.
“Many of us have experienced first-hand the devastating effects of drugs on a person’s life.
“It is delightful to note that SAYWHAT is taking an active stand against drugs and substance abuse through its interventions,” she said.
“These complement the demand reduction pillar in the Zimbabwe National Drugs Master Plan 2020-2025 which offers an integrated and comprehensive approach that addressed the range of drug related issues.”
Sweden’s Ambassador to Zimbabwe Per Lindgärde said Sweden was committed to continue partnering Zimbabwe in the betterment of young people’s livelihoods.
Like Zimbabwe, she said, Sweden also prioritised the youthful demographic as they were tomorrow’s leaders.
Ambassador Lindgärde commended SAYWHAT for availing such platforms for the youth.
The Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education’s director gender, mainstreaming, inclusivity and wellness Mrs Nhengo said Government was committed to improving students’ welfare.
She outlined the nexus between education and health.
SAYWHAT’s executive director Mr Jimmy Wilford said the organisations had achieved tremendous goals in empowering young people to be active participants in the upbringing and development.
SayWhat board member Ms Benovelence Taguta said such platforms were important spaces for the youth.
She said it was imperative that the youth demographic is empowered.
Forty-eight colleges attended the students’ conference.
Peter Tanyanyiwa
Online Reporter