Ministry of Health has revealed that 300 prisoners have yet to complete the drug rehabilitation programme, Faruva, being conducted by the National Drug Agency (NDA).
Speaking to PSM News, Deputy Minister of Health Shamau Shareef said that a survey conducted by the ministry shows that 300 prisoners have yet to complete the drug rehabilitation programme. He said this shows the overwhelming number of individuals who were brought in for treatment in the past five years and how many still remain untreated in prison.
Additionally, Deputy Minister Shamau said that 80% of the prison population needs treatment. He also highlighted the large number of prisoners who were ordered by the court to undergo treatment and the low number of individuals seeking treatment on their own accord. He, however, said that the number of individuals seeking treatment has been increasing after the government decided to conduct rehabilitation programmes under the healthcare system.
Furthermore, Deputy Minister Shamau said that the survey showed a high recidivism rate for prisoners who have completed the drug rehabilitation programme. He also said that the survey was conducted to formulate a situation analysis report and that the survey collected information on the resources being used for drug treatment in order to determine areas that can be improved and expanded. He added that it also surveyed 186 health centres to determine the level of readiness in commencing drug rehabilitation programmes.