Health experts call for more drug rehabilitation centres country-wide

Romeo Gumbo

25.01.24

Health experts have called for the establishment and decentralisation of more drug rehabilitation centres across the country saying this will help to reduce the number of cases of drug and substance abuse especially among the youth.

The Zimbabwe Municipality Nurses and Aligned Workers Union President Mr Simbarashe Tafirenyika and Community Working Group on health Executive Director Itai Rusike has stressed the importance of family support for victims of drug abuse to help them recover and reintegrate into society.

In a joint statement, Mr Tafirenyika said, “We are encouraging the government to build new rehabilitation centres and isolate drug abusers where they will be treated and secluded until they get better.

“Drug abuse is now a national problem hence these rehabilitation services have to be decentralised in order to ensure that they are accessible and affordable for all”, Mr Itai Rusike added.

The government has put in place various measures to address the drug and substance abuse crisis including the setting up of a task force identifying other rehabilitation centers that can be repurposed to cater for drug abuse victims.