Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has urged people from allwalks of life to fully realise the devastating effects of drugs as aproportion of them have so far perceived ambiguously the danger of theaddictive substance, especially methamphetamine.
Deputy PM Phucwas speaking at a ceremony in Hanoi on June 24 to present awards tothose who won a propaganda painting contest featuring the fight againstdrug and kick off an exhibition on propaganda paintings on the theme.
He admitted that drug abuse in the country is problematic andincreasingly complicated. He pointed out that domestic drug criminalshave closely colluded with foreign dealers or Vietnamese drug traderswho are hiding in other countries to smuggle drugs into Vietnam.
New kinds of drugs, in particular methamphetamine, which were proved toseverely ruin human health, are making their inroads into manylocalities nationwide, the Government leader warned.
Vietnam hasso far recorded over 170,000 drug addicts, whose bad habits havedirectly devastated their families and indirectly affected the country’ssocio-economic development, he said.
Deputy PM Phuc called oninternational organisations to enhance their support to Vietnam andmedia agencies boost their dissemination on the fight against drugs,especially methamphetamine, making it a core activity to wipe out thesupply and lessen demands for drugs.
At an online forum on theGovernment's portal the same day, Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalidsand Social Affairs Nguyen Trong Dam said Vietnam is seeking to reducethe level of reliance on compulsory treatments for drug addicts infavour of promoting the role of community support groups and otherpsychological assistance.
He added that his Ministry is workingon a national project that aims to further overhaul the country's drugtreatment procedures.
Dam Huu Dac, Deputy Chairman of the VietnamElderly Association called on the Government to encourage theestablishment of a drug treatment model at community level, and forprivate entities to invest in treatment centres in neighbourhoods acrossthe country.
Zhuldyz Akisheva, Country Manager of the UnitedNations Office on Drugs and Crime in Vietnam (UNODC), said herorganisation has been working closely with the Vietnamese Government forthe past 20 years, especially in eliminating the growing of opium andfighting drug trafficking.
She said the UNODC has run projectswith the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, among others,to deal with the abuse of drugs, stressing the need to approach drugtreatment from a health perspective.
According to Dam, currentlythere are about 17 private drug treatment centres nationwide but most ofthem operate under the same method as the state-owned centres and lackthe ability to provide psychological support and other services.
He said the new reform project would also focus on providing betterlegal assistance allowing drug addicts to benefit from simplifiedprocedures at treatment centres and increased access to health services.
He argued that a greater focus on methadone treatment was important.
The country currently has about 60 centres nationwide providingmethadone and aims at offering as many as 80,000 drug addicts access tomethadone treatment by 2015.
The forum was held ahead of the UNInternational Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, whichfalls on June 26 (also Vietnam's Anti-Drug Day).-VNA
Deputy PM Phucwas speaking at a ceremony in Hanoi on June 24 to present awards tothose who won a propaganda painting contest featuring the fight againstdrug and kick off an exhibition on propaganda paintings on the theme.
He admitted that drug abuse in the country is problematic andincreasingly complicated. He pointed out that domestic drug criminalshave closely colluded with foreign dealers or Vietnamese drug traderswho are hiding in other countries to smuggle drugs into Vietnam.
New kinds of drugs, in particular methamphetamine, which were proved toseverely ruin human health, are making their inroads into manylocalities nationwide, the Government leader warned.
Vietnam hasso far recorded over 170,000 drug addicts, whose bad habits havedirectly devastated their families and indirectly affected the country’ssocio-economic development, he said.
Deputy PM Phuc called oninternational organisations to enhance their support to Vietnam andmedia agencies boost their dissemination on the fight against drugs,especially methamphetamine, making it a core activity to wipe out thesupply and lessen demands for drugs.
At an online forum on theGovernment's portal the same day, Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalidsand Social Affairs Nguyen Trong Dam said Vietnam is seeking to reducethe level of reliance on compulsory treatments for drug addicts infavour of promoting the role of community support groups and otherpsychological assistance.
He added that his Ministry is workingon a national project that aims to further overhaul the country's drugtreatment procedures.
Dam Huu Dac, Deputy Chairman of the VietnamElderly Association called on the Government to encourage theestablishment of a drug treatment model at community level, and forprivate entities to invest in treatment centres in neighbourhoods acrossthe country.
Zhuldyz Akisheva, Country Manager of the UnitedNations Office on Drugs and Crime in Vietnam (UNODC), said herorganisation has been working closely with the Vietnamese Government forthe past 20 years, especially in eliminating the growing of opium andfighting drug trafficking.
She said the UNODC has run projectswith the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, among others,to deal with the abuse of drugs, stressing the need to approach drugtreatment from a health perspective.
According to Dam, currentlythere are about 17 private drug treatment centres nationwide but most ofthem operate under the same method as the state-owned centres and lackthe ability to provide psychological support and other services.
He said the new reform project would also focus on providing betterlegal assistance allowing drug addicts to benefit from simplifiedprocedures at treatment centres and increased access to health services.
He argued that a greater focus on methadone treatment was important.
The country currently has about 60 centres nationwide providingmethadone and aims at offering as many as 80,000 drug addicts access tomethadone treatment by 2015.
The forum was held ahead of the UNInternational Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, whichfalls on June 26 (also Vietnam's Anti-Drug Day).-VNA
