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Inspections by the Telangana Anti-Narcotics Bureau (TGANB) at 16 drug de-addiction and rehabilitation centres across the State have exposed a dearth of facilities and doctors at many of these institutions.
Only 11 centres were found operational, including seven District De-Addiction Centre (DDAC) and four Integrated Rehabilitation Centre for Addicts (IRCA). Of these, six were found to be running without a psychologist (and psychiatrist in many cases), according to the bureau. Two of the six were declared “not satisfactory” owing to a lack of facilities required for the treatment, the findings show.
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“We have written to these six centres, including the two that were found ‘not satisfactory’ during the audit, to upgrade their facilities and bring in qualified psychologists and psychiatrists. The checks will be conducted every three months to ensure that the recommendations have been implemented,” said Director of TGANB Sandeep Shandilya.
District administrations have been asked to reopen the five centres in Peddapalli, Badradri Kothagudem, Siddipet, Yadadri Bhuvanagiri and Mehabubnagar, which were found non-functional.
More beds added
The de-addiction centres at 26 government hospitals across the State have received 270 additional beds. The bureau has also placed an order for ‘12-panel drug detection kits’ to be delivered to these centres so as to identify drug users in their initial phases of addiction, the official added.
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State of recovery
According to data from the inspection shared by the TGANB, 639 patients have been treated in about three months between April to July 15 this year. Most cases are of addiction to alcohol, ganja and adulterated toddy. Cases involving synthetic drugs such as cocaine and MDMA have also been reported.
A total of 2,171 patients were treated in the centres between April 2023 and March 2024; this number was 11,304 from April 2018 to July 15, 2024.
Number of patients treated at 11 de-addiction centres
The Centres inspected are in Khammam, Nalgonda, LB Nagar, Vikarabad, Medak, Amangal, Kothur, Medchal, Warangal, Karimnagar and Adilabad.
‘Helping Hand Society’ in Warangal’s Hanmakonda topped the list with 92 patients during the quarter, followed by ‘Prakriti Environment Society’ in Ashok Nagar of Karimnagar and ‘Vision NGO’ in Medak and Narsapur, with 90 cases each.
‘Society for Health Awareness and Rural Enlightenment’ at Madira in Khammam reported the least number of cases at 29, followed by Medchal’s ‘Development Organisation for Village Environment’ with 45.