ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Interior and Narcotics Control is constructing a 100-bed drug treatment hospital in Peshawar for the treatment and detoxification of drug users in the Kyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, official sources said on Sunday.
Sources said the hospital would be run by Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) and is under construction in collaboration with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government adding that ANF was already running three model addiction treatment and rehabilitation centres (MATRCs), one each at Islamabad, Quetta and Karachi.
Sources informed that these treatment centres provide free treatment, boarding and lodging facilities to drug addicts. MATRC Islamabad and Quetta, 45 bedded centers are government funded while MATRC Karachi with 55 bedded capacity is being run on self-help basis or donors support, while these centres are model hospitals and undertake treatment protocol approved by the government, sources said.
While giving details of each centre, the sources said that in Islamabad, a 45-bed Model Addiction Treatment and Rehabilitation Centre was established at Thanda Pani, Lehtrar Road which has now been shifted to Model Town, Industrial Area, Islamabad.
This MATRC has been working since 2005 with a capacity to provide free of cost medical treatment and rehabilitation facility to 360 drug addicts per year, sources added.
The centre has been converted from development budget to non-development budget like established on permanent footing from July 1, 2014, they said.
According to sources, a 45-bed Model Addiction Treatment and Rehabilitation Centre was established in Quetta at Chaman Housing Scheme, Airport Road and has been operational since 2005 with a capacity to provide free of cost medical treatment and rehabilitation to 360 drug addict per year.
The centre has been converted from development budget to non-development budget like established on permanent footing from July 1, 2014, they said.
Moreover, a 55-bedded Model Addiction Treatment and Rehabilitation Centre was established in May 2010 at Kalri, Lyari in Karachi, while the centre is working with a capacity to provide free of cost medical treatment and rehabilitation to 440 drug addicts per year, the sources added.
They further said that no regular funding is being provided to this centre and it is being run on funds received from various donors time to time, whereas female and juvenile drug treatment ward is also under construction at MATRC, Karachi.
While answering a question, the sources said that private drug treatment centres fall within the ambit of health department of respective provinces and accordingly their monitoring rests with concerned health departments.
According to National Anti-Narcotics Policy 2010, the provincial health department should develop wards in both the district and tehsil hospitals for treatment and detoxification of drug users.
