The Ministry of Health is prepared to assist methadone patients who continue to use drugs. They must first make a request to the Drug Users Administrative Panel.
The Drug Users Administrative Panel (DUAP) will be operational around the first week of March. The detoxification sessions will start immediately at the Brown Séquard psychiatric center in Beau-Bassin. Arrested drug users, whose use of the illicit substance was solely for personal purposes, will now have the choice between the legal route, involving legal prosecution, and treatment. And according to our findings, patients on methadone treatment, but who continue to use drugs secretly, will also be able to detoxify.
Indeed, the Ministry of Health and Wellness is ready to help them. But these users on methadone must first make a request to DUAP officials. Requests will be studied carefully. Each case, it is made clear, will be examined individually due to the specific treatments that will be granted.
“There are many reasons why a patient on methadone may relapse. This is why it is important to know these reasons. At the DUAP level, we will ensure that we provide tailor-made treatment for patients so that they can completely heal from the hell of drugs without resorting to methadone as a treatment,” we emphasize. the Beau-Bassin psychiatric hospital.
It is then indicated that drug addict patients who are on methadone treatment, but who plan to detoxify, must nevertheless take responsibility during and especially after treatment. Our attempts to determine the approximate number of methadone patients suspected of drug use were unsuccessful.
Treatment, targeting all drugs, will only be provided at the Brown Séquard psychiatric hospital. Detox treatment includes about ten varied programs, including treatment with methadone, suboxone, naltrexone; family therapy, counseling, among others. Around four psychiatrists, around ten psychologists and twelve general practitioners will be assigned to this detoxification program. About five NGOs, such as Lakaz A and the Idrice Goomany center, will be asked to collaborate with the Ministry of Health and Wellness in the implementation of this project.
DUAP representatives are redoubling their efforts to begin the first treatments from the first week of March. A meeting was held last Wednesday, followed by another this Monday. The implementation of administrative procedures is
in progress.
“The detoxification process, which promises to be a long journey, aims to offer drug users a second chance. These individuals, mainly victims, deserve to be rehabilitated and reintegrated into society,” says the Ministry of Health and Wellness.
