This is a call to the Minister of Health to protect the health of our nation. Before now, Wisdom Class Movement has taken a bold step to declare a state of emergency on drug abuse and another bold step to begin a war against drug abuse in Delta State. We also declared our total commitment and support to the federal government against drug abuse.
We commend the courage of the honourable minister for his red letter to all, and this is our response to also call him to accountability and transparency, especially in the area of drug abuse in Nigeria.
The burden of drug abuse is becoming a major public health concern in Nigeria. The recent World Drug Report 2019 of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimated that 271 million (5.5 per cent) of the global population (aged between 15 and 64 years) had used drugs in the previous year.
Also, it has been projected that 35 million individuals will be experiencing drug use disorders. Further, the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017 estimated that, in 2017, there were 585,000 deaths due to drug use globally. In Nigeria, the burden of drug abuse is on the rise and becoming a public health concern.
Nigeria, which is the most populous country in Africa, has developed a reputation as a centre for drug trafficking and usage, mostly among the youth population. According to the 2018 UNODC report “Drug use in Nigeria”, the first large-scale, nationwide drug use survey in Nigeria, one in seven persons (aged 15–64 years) had used a drug in the past year. Also, one in five individuals who have used a drug in the past year is suffering from drug-related disorders. Drug abuse has been a cause of many criminal offences such as theft, burglary, sex work, and shoplifting.
The prevalence of drug abuse is skyrocketing because no serious intervention to rehabilitate addicts is in place. Other interventional strategies are not fully implemented. There’s no restriction on access to drugs. Open drug markets and access to drugs without a prescription are still fully operational in Nigeria.
This red letter is a call to action to the honourable minister to: Immediately set up rehabilitation centers across the six geopolitical zones providing easy and accessible services; Initiate a bill to enact enabling laws for the success of the rehabilitation centers and rehabilitation centres, provide policies that would address the wider availability of drugs in society, Implement effective addiction counselling and prevention programmes, Create job opportunities for youth to become self-reliant; Commence compulsory drug testing for all youths and all students before admission in all schools. Commence full implementation of all enacted laws and policies; Ensure strict restriction of access to illicit and nonprescription drugs; Full implementation of the ban on open drug market, and increase allocation of funds to drug-abuse intervention.
Enforcement activities should be strengthened as drug abuse cannot be treated with kid gloves. Therefore, stringent measures and sustainable interventions are urgently needed to curb the increasing burden of drug abuse in Nigeria.
Let this red letter reach the Honourable Minister of Health and let it remind us that the health of this nation is in the hands of everyone, especially the hands of the Honourable Minister of Health. Together we plan, together we spend, and together we protect lives.
