11 ATFs functional in Kashmir, 09 in Jammu for treatment, rehabilitation of drug addicts: Itoo

Minister for Health and Medical Education, Social Welfare and Education, Sakeena Itoo, while terming drug abuse as an issue of grave concern, said there is dire need to work collectively for eradication of this societal menace plaguing Jammu and Kashmir.The Minister said this while replying to a starred question raised by MLA, Mubarak Gul, in the Legislative Assembly here today.While giving details regarding the treatment and rehabilitation facilities, the Minister said that 11 Addiction Treatment Facilities (ATFs) are functional in Kashmir division and 9 ATFs in Jammu division. She further informed that OPD services are functional in all 20 districts while IPD services are available in all 9 GMCs, catering to the healthcare needs of both male and female patients. She also informed that Psychiatrists are available in all the GMC’s of J&K.

Reflecting on the Training and Monitoring efforts of the government, the Minister said that 25 Medical Officers (12 from Jammu and 13 from Kashmir) have been trained by NIMHANS, Bengaluru and deputed to their respective districts to strengthen treatment facilities at de-addiction centres. She also informed that surveillance has been strengthened by data collection on a daily basis using google sheets for real time reporting to monitor trends and measure the impact of interventions.

The Minister informed the house that after the initiation of Nasha Mukht Abhiyan since September 2022, the registration of new cases has shown decreasing trend which indicates some level of control or improvement in detecting and managing the affected victims. She also informed the house that several policy level measures have been initiated like Adoption of Drug De-Addiction Policy, Constitution of State Level Policy Implementation Monitoring, Divisional Level Drug De-addiction and Monitoring besides constitution of District Level Drug De-addiction and Monitoring Committees to tackle drug addiction as well as drug trafficking in J&K.

The Minister further informed that the government has established a dedicated call centre Tele MANAS to facilitate the drug victims seeking treatment.Giving details on awareness activities, the Minister informed that IEC activities, seminars, workshops and programmes are being conducted regularly in schools, colleges and universities in coordination with the district administrations, NGOs, volunteers and other allied agencies regarding ill effects of drug and substance abuse.

The Minister also informed that the health department, in collaboration with J&K bank, has successfully launched the project “Najaath” on drug abuse dedicated to Prevention and Treatment of Tobacco and Drug Addiction, in Jammu and Pulwama districts in November 2023. She added that the Najaath aims to raise awareness among individuals, families and communities about the harmful effects of tobacco and drug addiction besides the available resources for prevention, treatment and support.Legislators, Mubarak Gul, Yudhvir Sethi, Arvind Gupta, Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami and Justice (Retd.) Hasnain Masoodi raised supplementary questions on the matter.