From Bamigbola Gbolagunte, Akure
The University of Medical Sciences (UNIMED), Ondo State, has advocated gender-informed and community-based solutions to drug abuse among youths.
A recent research by the university’s Centre for Gender and Health Equity on ‘Gender Dimension of Drug Abuse among Secondary Schools in Ondo City,’ showed that gender informed solutions would curb the menace of drug abuse in the state.
Revealing the findings of the research at a seminar in the university, Dr. Modupe Adediyan, said: “Social media is the primary source of information on drug abuse.”
She, therefore, stressed the importance of using the same channel to campaign against drug abuse in the state.
Speaking further, she listed the commonly abused substances as alcohol, tramadol, cannabis and codeine among others, adding that 77.2 percent of the respondents were aware of the substances.
She lamented that, “males reported higher abuse rates and severity, correlating with social norms and greater freedom, while female use involves less potent substances, influenced by social relationships and survival tactics.”
The seminar, which featured critical stakeholders, such as National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), psychiatrists and counsellors among others, stressed the need for strategic interventions, like banning of hard drugs.
Speaking earlier, the Director, Centre for Gender and Health Equity of the university, Professor Augustinah Duyilemi, said: “There are differences in how male and female students experience addiction.
To this end, she suggested deploying gender-sensitive approaches to tackle adolescent substance abuse, saying, “drug abuse is a ticking time bomb, which requires the whole community to address.”