Creating awareness on a global problem

Islamabad : The International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking is being observed today with the theme, ‘Listen First - Listening to children and youth is the first step to help them grow healthy and safe.’ June 26th is a global observance day to mobilize support and encourage societies to unite against drug abuse, its deadly consequences on families and the community at large. In his message the UN Secretary General says, “Drug trafficking, once viewed largely as a social and criminal problem, has transformed in recent years into a major threat to the health and security of people and regions.”

While the use of drugs and their abuse is a global menace, closer to home the situation is alarming considering that according to the statistics of the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) around 27 million people suffer from drug abuse; the number of people who died annually due to drug use is estimated at 187,100 and every one out of three drug users is a woman!

Besides the ANF, there are a number of NGO’s around the country dealing with the drug problem and fighting against the odds to help those who are trapped in this vicious, life altering malady. To name a few, Friends of ANF (Sindh); Drug Free Pakistan Foundation (Karachi); Dost Foundation (Peshawar); Karim Khan Afridi Welfare Foundation (Islamabad) and a number of other organisations.

Founder KKAWF, Cristina Afridi says, “Our methodology is to not be judgmental but rather to make young people understand the emotions of adolescence, which may result in curiosity to try something new under peer pressure, as well as to find out what other factors contribute towards pushing a child to addiction - there are many reasons in our very complex society!”