By Rutendo Ngara
AUTHORITIES need to do more to deal with worsening cases of mental health issues and drug abuse in the country, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said.
Speaking in Harare yesterday, at a well-attended conference on drug abuse organised by the Daily News, WHO Zimbabwe mental health focal person, Debra Machando, also said standardised messages were needed to help tackle these rising scourges
“We have precipitating factors that could be related to trauma and unemployment, as well as predisposing factors. “That is where we ask what then triggers one to do drugs. It might be peer pressure or emotional trauma and people could be trying to numb themselves.
“We actually also have physiological disorders where people are hearing voices and are distressed,” she told gathered delegates.
‘‘Knowing that information, we are careful to make sure that we need to package information accurately. “One reference case cannot suit all. It cannot be used as a benchmark for everything. It’s important as a nation to make sure that we are packaging our messages well in a way that is not harmful.
For example, someone will just say ‘you can do it’, ‘I did it and I quit the use of drugs’. It might have worked for them, but you don’t know the circumstances they were under, the substance that they were using, as well as the quantities and duration.
“It is thus important that as a nation we package the right messages to ensure that they are helpful and that they are not going to cause harm,” Machando added.
This comes as over 57 percent of the country’s youth are said to be abusing drugs due to many factors, among them unemployment.
Speaking at the same conference, occupational therapist at the ministry of Health’s mental services department, Brighton Mufakwadziya, said authorities were seized with the worrying problem. “The ministry of Health is an integral member of the inter-ministerial taskforce on drug and substance abuse, which has given birth to the Cabinet mandated national committee on the elimination of drug and substance abuse in Zimbabwe.
“Preliminary work for the establishment of the national taskforce and committee were derived from the national drug master plan which was published by the ministry of Health and Child Care. “A five-pillar drug and substance intervention approach is provided in the master plan,” Mufakwadziya said.
“The Zimbabwe special initiative for mental health, launched by the Vice President and Health minister Constantino Chiwenga in 2020, has thematic areas that broadly cover the community interventions in the management of substance use disorders.
“The ministry of Health is making great strides in providing … short and long term residential treatment for drug users, the promotion of the creation of support groups, and the provision of medication needed by mental health patients and drug users. “I would like to express my sincere and special appreciation to Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe, with particular mention of the Daily News for hosting us at this important gathering,”
Mufakwadziya added. The event was attended by senior officials from organisations that included CIMAS Health Care Service, FBC Health, Highlands Wellness Group, Mandipa Hope Rehabilitation Centre, Pamumvuri and several government ministries and departments, as well as drug users and former users.
