Chronicle Editor
Robin Muchetu, Senior Reporter
INGUTSHENI Central Hospital in Bulawayo has been inundated with drug abusers who relapse after they are discharged with about 50 percent having been taken back into the institution amid revelations that cultural beliefs are among causes of the relapse.
In light of the development, stakeholders have called for community engagement to conscientise the families and the affected individuals on the need not to default on treatment and start seeking spiritual and faith healing when discharged.
Ingutsheni Chief Medical Officer, Dr Nemache Mawere said relapsing was partly linked to cultural beliefs where some families do not see the drug and substance abuse problem for what it is but believe it is a result of having been bewitched.
“Cultural beliefs also play a role although not a big one now where some believe their mental illnesses are caused by them having been bewitched or faith-related issues and start seeking spiritual healing while discarding treatment. It is no longer a big problem but it’s there. People also relapse because when they are discharged from the institution they go home and stop taking medication for the prescribed time,” he said.
He said recovery from addiction is a personal journey emphasising a multifaceted approach to arrest the problem with community and family support key in ensuring one is free from addiction.
“Our major challenge now is the people who keep coming back (relapsing into drugs). In the last quarter, we had a 50 percent relapsing rate but the figure may have reduced to 40 or 45 percent now.
“Sometimes people stop taking medication when they go home because they cannot afford it because patients have to buy the medication for themselves when we do not have much of the free medication in stock,” said Dr Mawere.
He said the biggest contributing factor is when the patient may not be willing to continue taking medication when they are discharged from the hospital.
Defaulting, he said, causes the patients to become sick again and then drift back into addiction and institutionalisation.
Another reason, he said, is that some patients simply do not like to take medication because it has side effects like intense drowsiness. After all, they will then fail to function well or even go to work during this period.
Instead of staying away from their previous behaviours, he said, some patients go back to the same environment that caused the illness.
Some, Dr Mawere said, come from families and friends where the drugs and other dangerous substances are sold and therefore find it difficult to break away from their use.
“Sometimes, those who will have gotten addicted will be running away from stressful environments at home, work or school where there is a lot of bullying so there are many reasons why people relapse after treatment. However, we need to do more community work, the community should stand up and take care of its people.
Discrimination is taking place where when one comes from rehabilitation, society brands them as a “mad” person who was at an institution instead of doing more to re-integrate that person and let them recover,” said Dr Mawere.
He emphasised the need to support emotionally those going through difficulties when they have someone who will be going through addiction saying the community has a role to play in creating conducive environments even for the recovering patients.
“In some cases a mental health patient gets ill and they go to prison or Ingutsheni then they are stigmatised instead of being given a second chance. So, this pushes some of these people to go back to their old lifestyles of taking drugs because they do not have support,” he said.
Dr Mawere noted the significant progress that the country was scoring in dealing with drug and substance abuse saying figures have declined from 200 in previous months to a range of 115 against the ward carrying capacity of 98.
“Ingutsheni Hospital’s acute ward — Khumalo, has a carrying capacity of 98 patients but in previous months had been overcrowded due to the influx of patients and was holding about 200 at any given time. The figures have reduced significantly to the range of about 115 since March, which shows significant progress.”
He said if the hospital continues to record a decline in admissions for drug and substance abuse for the next six months, they will have turned the corner.
Mr Wilson Box, Zimbabwe Civil Liberties and Drug Network (ZCLDN) director weighed in saying more work needs to be done to address the issue of stigma and discrimination in the broader community, adding that the Multi-Sectoral Drug and Substance Abuse Plan (2024-2030) launched by President Mnangagwa last week was a masterstroke in addressing some of the key issues that will foster change.
He said the issue of language needs to be looked at arguing that sometimes it stigmatises and discriminates.
“We want to make sure that the language that we use is not discriminatory, it should encourage people using drugs to seek treatment services. For example, we prefer drug use and not abuse so that we do not stigmatise and discriminate against people using injecting drugs,” said Mr Box.
With the establishment of the Chipadze Rehabilitation Centre in Bindura, Mr Box said the Government should introduce the full bouquet of harm reduction because Chipadze is the only institution dealing with people with injected drugs at the moment.
“Other institutions are mental health institutions. So, we believe that the Government, development partners and almost everyone in society should be focused and help people who inject drugs,” he said. — @NyembeziMu
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter