THE Inter-Ministerial Committee on Drugs and Substance Abuse is intensifying efforts to tackle the menace with a team having been sent to Ghana and South Africa to learn how those countries are dealing with the issue.
Chairperson of the committee, who is also Public Service, Labour, and Social Welfare minister Paul Mavima, recently said the committee had identified five pillars to support the efforts to rid society of the menace, particularly among the youth.
He said the five pillars included harm reduction, treatment and rehabilitation, supply reduction, demand reduction and community reintegration.
“An Inter-Ministerial Committee on Drug and Substance Abuse team has already gone to Ghana and South Africa on fact finding missions,” said Mavima.
“They have done international benchmarking. What they are now doing is implementation.” Mavima said the five pillars had been cascaded to the provinces and would be spread to the districts, and further down to the wards, to ensure that every place was covered.
“We have a number of pillars including the Police Narcotics department, which has been doing a very good job by intercepting some of the drugs at the airport,” he said. The Ministry of Youth, Arts, Sports and Recreation leads the Demand Reduction Pillar, which offers recreational programmes for the youth to empower them and prevent them falling into the trap. — New Ziana