Tuesday, 27 June 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The health secretary R Rajesh Kumar has said that the prevalence of injectable drugs is increasing among youth due to which the danger of HIV infection is also increasing in the society. He was addressing a programme organised on the occasion of International day against drug abuse and illicit trafficking at the State health directorate here on Monday. The secretary also administered an oath to the officers and employees of the department who attended the programme.
This year’s theme of anti drugs day is ‘people first- stop stigma and discrimination, strengthen prevention’.
Kumar said that the objective of the day is to create public awareness and save people especially youngsters from the scourge of substance abuse. He said that the government has made provisions for identification, treatment and rehabilitation of the people engaged in drug abuse in the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
The secretary said that Opioid Substitution Therapy (OST) is the treatment for such people which is used to reduce dependence on the drugs. This therapy also reduces the HIV infection.
The programme was attended by director general of health services, Dr Vinita Shah, director of NHM, Dr Saroj Naithani, additional project director Dr AK Nagarkar, Dr Amit Shukla, Dr Mayank Badola, Dr Pankaj Kumar Singh and others.
