From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
A coalition consisting of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and some government agencies has expressed its resolve to prevent drug abuse and enhance treatment and care for those affected by the menace.
The Executive Director, Re-Orientation Advocacy of Nigeria (RAN), Charles Olufemi, while speaking at a stakeholders engagement, the coalition is to bridge the gap between stakeholders working on drug demand reduction.
Olufemi said the coalition will build a synergy for for holistic evidence based interventions on drug prevention, treatment and care. According to him, this is in line with the commitment of the President Bola Tinubu’s administration to tackle drug abuse and its associated consequences, in collaboration with stakeholders.
The stakeholders engagement was attended by RAN the Federal Ministry of Health, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency NDLEA, the National Primary Health Care amongst other.
Olufemi explained that “solving the challenges of drug abuse demands a number of strategic steps in line with international standard. From identifying the causes, the people affected, their location, their status and the treatment required as well as the rehabilitation and reintegration process.
“Our partnership would forge a common purpose and allow easy flow of our work in line with each organisation’s mandate and in conformity with the strategic objectives of the National Drug Control Master Plan 2021 – 2025 and the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Act.
“It is important to note that a concrete synergy and deliberate platform of this nature would go a long way in proffering effective, efficient and sustainable solutions.
“No country can make any significant progress with over 40% of the her youth population including young women engaging in drug abuse with the rate of drug use twice the global average of 5.3 per cent.”