Drug Crisis Triggers National Rehab Blitz

Government has announced plans to expand mental health training and establish rehabilitation centers across provinces and districts as part of a nationwide response to rising drug and substance abuse. Speaking in Parliament, Health and Child Care Minister Hon. Douglas Mombeshora said authorities were strengthening both training and treatment capacity to address the growing crisis affecting young people and adults.

“I would like to thank the Hon. Member for raising this important question, which significantly impacts both the youth and adults, which is the issue of drug and substance abuse,” said Mombeshora. He said that mental health training is already being expanded, with nurses and doctors receiving updated instruction to keep pace with evolving drug trends.

“All nurses receive training related to drug and substance abuse though the depth of this training may vary. Our medical doctors also receive instruction on managing drug and substance abuse,” he said. The Minister acknowledged that the emergence of new substances has exposed gaps in training, prompting curriculum reforms.

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“It is essential to update the curriculum at the university level to include these new substances that have emerged since our initial training,” he said. As part of capacity building, Government has increased training intake at specialist institutions and is rolling out a new curriculum this year. “We have increased our intake at Ingutsheni Hospital, our primary institution for training mental health nurses… We are also excited to announce that a new curriculum has been developed, which we anticipate will be implemented starting this year,” he said.

Beyond training, Government is scaling up treatment infrastructure through rehabilitation centers nationwide under a Cabinet-level intervention. “In every province, we are establishing rehabilitation centers. We are also trying to recruit many counsellors,” said Mombeshora.

He added that authorities are pushing services closer to communities through decentralization. “We are also trying to make sure that we go down to the district level to establish the drug and substance abuse rehabilitation centers,” he said. Mental health services are also being integrated into primary healthcare outreach to reach rural populations. “In the Ministry of Health and Child Care, we are integrating mental health into our primary health care so that we can conduct outreach, go to the villages and educate communities about drug and substance abuse,” he explained.

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