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Rumbidzayi Zinyuke Senior Health Reporter
NEW strategies to encourage participation of communities to promote behavioural change are needed as the fight against drug and substance abuse continues.
Despite concerted efforts to tackle the menace, the country continues to report high levels of drug and substance abuse which has affected millions of young people, compelling the Government to provide rehabilitation services.
Speaking to the Herald yesterday, Zimbabwe Civil Liberties and Drugs and Network (ZCLDN) executive director, Mr Wilson Box, said authorities should focus on implementing harm reduction initiatives.
“We now need to be thinking in terms of harm reduction services where the people who abuse drugs actually get treated. Zimbabwe does not have these services yet but they are needed,” he said. Drug treatment and harm reduction services are essential components of comprehensive strategies for reducing the harm of drug use and overdose. These include interventions to combat stigma around people who use drugs and people with co-occurring disorders, promote referrals to care, counselling and treatment services.
It also seeks to educate individuals about overdose risks and provide lifesaving overdose reversal medications.
Mr Box said sending drug users to mental health institutions was not the best way to help them hence there was a need for the establishment of drop-in centres where the drug harm reduction services would be offered.
He said these services should also include an increased distribution of condoms to hotspot areas owing to the relationship that exists between drug abuse and risky behaviours which can fuel the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.
Government in 2021 set up an Inter-ministerial task force to find solutions to the scourge of drug and substance abuse. Since then, a lot has been done to address the issue including a blitz led by the Zimbabwe Republic Police meant to flush out those dealing in drugs.
However, according to Mr Box, further criminalising drug abuse would not help the cause at the moment.
“We need to see some policy reforms that will decriminalise drug abuse because when you criminalise it, the people doing it will not seek medical attention when they want to stop for fear of being arrested. Instead, drug and substance abuse should be declared a public health threat instead of being a criminal issue,” he said.
Psychologist Dr Kudakwashe Muchena concurred that criminalising drug abuse was not in the best interest of those affected. He said drug and substance abuse was a behavioural change issue that needed to be tackled as such.
“Arresting someone is not the solution but it is about changing their behaviour and discouraging them from taking those substances. We have seen a lot of young people and even some adults fall into the trap of drug abuse. People should be educated and informed so that they can make decisions based on the professional advice they have been given. They need to have alternatives to abusing drugs,” Dr Muchena said.
Zimbabwe’s psychiatric institutions have been overwhelmed by an influx of drug and substance abusers and this has put a strain on the ability of these institutions to offer the best care.
Dr Muchena said the connection between drug and substance abuse and mental health should not be ignored.
“Mental health issues have always been taken lightly, I hope the authorities will listen to what has been said about it. It is a pity that the Government does not have rehabilitation centres but these services are being offered in the private sector,” he said.
Dr Muchena said rehabilitation services offered by the private sector were located in affluent suburbs and beyond the reach of many in terms of cost while areas where more people were abusing drugs did not have access to the services.
He added that mental health could be managed, hence the Government should also be deliberate in managing drug and substance abuse by providing rehabilitation services for all.
Online Reporter