To mark the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on Friday, a pledge against drug abuse will be administered to the employees in health institutions of the State. Besides, a State-level function will be held at Hoshiarpur to mark the event, said the State Principal Secretary (Health and Family Welfare) Vini Mahajan on Thursday.
Reviewing various arrangements for the event during a meeting with the officers of the health department, she emphasized on various initiatives been taken by the department for de-addiction of the affected people.
She said that the numbers of de-addiction centers in Punjab will soon rise to 31. “Nine new de-addiction centers are being opened by the government, apart from 22 de-addiction centers already functioning successfully in the State. Minimum one psychiatrist has been provided in all the districts by the department to smoothly run these centers,” she said.
Mahajan said that the menace of drug abuse is prevalent in almost in all parts of the world and lakhs of people have been affected across the globe due to drug abuse or illicit trafficking.
“Special focus has been laid to prevent youth from the clutches of drugs abuse. Awareness regarding ill effects of drug addiction is being done through special workshops, seminars, camps, folk media etc at the village levels as well as district level of the State,” she said.