Sindh has no public drug dependence unit, admits health department

Despite having thousands of drug addicts across Sindh, not a single drug dependence unit or centre for the rehabilitation of drug users exists at any public sector psychiatric ward, hospital or independently anywhere in the province, the health department said on Thursday.

The issue came to light after the Supreme Court in a suo motu case sought details about rehabilitation centres from all the provinces, and it emerged that not one such unit has been set up in the province in the public sector.

Psychiatry is the most neglected field of medicine in Sindh, where only a few tertiary-care hospitals offer treatment for psychiatric illnesses, despite the fact that 34 per cent of Pakistanis are afflicted with depression or anxiety.

“As far as drug addiction is concerned, it is a mental illness; in some cases people abuse illicit substances, while in other cases abuse of illicit substances and drugs results in mental illnesses,” said Pakistan Psychiatric Society (PPS) President Prof Iqbal Afridi.

Responding to a query of the SC on the existence of public centres for the rehabilitation of drug addicts in Sindh, Prof Afridi lamented that no such unit exists here. “We at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre [JPMC] treat drug addicts, but a special unit with specialised people and facilities is needed to help them get rid of their addiction or dependence on drugs.”

He said people from entire Sindh come to Karachi to seek treatment of mental illnesses, including rehabilitation for drug addiction, because there is no such facility or hospital in the 27 districts of the province. Even patients from Hyderabad come to Karachi, despite the fact that there is an institute of psychiatry there, he added.

Afridi said that all major teaching and district headquarters (DHQ) hospitals in Sindh lack psychiatric services, due to which people are forced to travel long distances to seek help at two or three tertiary-care hospitals in Karachi that are already overburdened and understaffed. PPS can help the health department provide psychiatric services at DHQ hospitals, he added.

Medical colleges

Despite the mandatory requirement of the Pakistan Medical & Dental Council (PMDC) and international bodies, majority of the country’s medical colleges, including many in Sindh, lack the provision of psychiatric services and the relevant faculty, said Prof Afridi.

If steps are not taken for the introduction of psychiatric services and teaching at medical colleges, our medical degrees will not be recognised globally, he added.

JPMC ward

Responding to a query, he said that on a daily basis around 450 patients visit the JPMC’s psychiatry ward, where there is only one professor, one associate professor and one assistant professor to deal with them. “Since devolution we have been unable to hire more doctors, paramedics, social workers and psychologists, while our faculty has retired over the years but we cannot replace them.”

Professor Afridi added that in the outside world, people are wondering how such a large influx of patients is being dealt with such a meagre number of experts and staff at the Jinnah Hospital.