Punjab Health Minister Brahm Mohindra on Friday said strict instructions have been issued to all civil surgeons in the State to give priority to drug addiction cases. Under these orders, the surgeons are duty-bound to admit the patient and start treatment as soon as possible.
‘Strict action’
“In any reported case of dereliction of duty on the part of civil surgeon on this front, strict departmental action would be initiated against the erring surgeon,” said Mr. Mohindra.
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The Minister added that the State government is aware of the spike in drug addiction cases.
Essential medicines
“We do have sufficient staff as far as the de-addiction centres are concerned besides adequate availability of essential medicines at all the de-addiction and rehab centres
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Mr. Mohindra said that any patient suffering from drug addiction, who does not want treatment as an indoor patient , can get a daily dose from Outpatient Opioid Assisted Treatment clinics.
Outdoor clinic
“The health department launched the OOAT programme to provide outdoor health care services to the patients suffering from drug addiction,” Mr. Mohindra said, adding that the programme was first launched as a pilot project in Moga, Taran Taran, and Amritsar in October 2017.
“After observing a patient retention rate of 85%, it has been rolled out in the whole of the State. As many as 81 OOAT clinics are providing healthcare services to drug-abuse patients,” he said.
A total of 2 , 74 , 938 patients have visited the OOAT clinics and 8,459 patients have registered for treatment, Mr. Mohindra sai