DOH outlines rehab process for drug users

DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines  — The Department of Health-Region 18 (Negros Island Region) had identified the procedures that a drug user shall follow for rehabilitation after surrendering to the police.

DOH-18 Local Health Support head Socrates Villamor, said that a drug user, after being profiled by the police, will be referred to the city or municipal health officer or the Rural Health Unit officer, for initial assessment.

The drug user will then be referred to DOH-accredited doctors or specialists—who have undergone training on how to deal with illegal drug use and drug abuse patients—to determine via diagnostic tests and screening if one is to be admitted to a rehabilitation center or be managed at the local level only, Villamor said.

Patients requiring a specialized addiction rehabilitation program are then recommended to a rehabilitation center of their choice, either government or private.

However, Villamor lamented the problem is there is no government-run drug rehabilitation center in Negros Oriental. There is a private facility in Dumaguete, but he admitted that this is an expensive option, which many drug users who are poor could not afford.

For those who can afford the travel and other costs, there are at least three government-owned drug rehabilitation centers in Cebu, said Villamor, but could not say if these public facilities are for free.

Villamor outline these procedures during the two-day orientation in Negros Oriental to address the rising number of drug users who have surrendered to the police the past two weeks.

The orientation on community-based rehabilitation program has been designed to complement the efforts of President Rodrigo Duterte and the Philippine National Police Chief, Director General Ronald dela Rosa, to eradicate the illegal drugs problem in the country.

But Villamor made it clear that this type of rehabilitation program, undertaken with the Department of Social Welfare and Development, is designed only for drug users who have no “legal implications.”

Participants to the orientation were asked to submit their respective plans on how to carry out the community-based rehabilitation program in their respective areas, Villamor added.  (FREEMAN)