The number of patients admitted for drug abuse at St Giles Hospital continues to increase, and permanent secretary for Ministry of Home Affairs Mason Smith says the figures are alarming and could increase to 10,000 by the end of the year.
He said the number of drug addicts treated or admitted at the hospital this year was about 7000.
“Now we got two months before Christmas,” he said during an interview yesterday at the Countering Illicit Narcotics National workshop in Suva.
“And we have already reached 7000. That’s 7000 families who are affected and it is only in St Giles.
“At the moment the way the trend is going there would be 10,000 patients at the end of this year at St Giles simply from drug abuse and that is frightening.
“We are losing people to one drug alone which is methamphetamine.
“And that is an issue we have to face and the impact it has on the economy is great.” Mr Smith said they were in the process of facilitating centres to assist St Giles Hospital.
“To bring in these drug addicts and rehabilitate them, get them to have healthy lives and slowly give them back to the community. Because now it’s only done by some faith-based organisations and St Giles. And it’s not enough, because we see the drug addicts are on the streets. You see needles in the park. We need to take them off the street and rehabilitate them.”
Mr Smith said the issue needed a whole of government partnership and nationwide effort.
“Once we build our capacity, we will be able to deter, detect and destroy.
“Those are the lines of the effort that we are looking at, and in a decision to that, we are wanting to reduce consumption, reduce the harm that currently been met with the drug addicts who continue to take drugs every day.
“So, we are reducing production, reduce distribution, and we reduce harm.
“Everybody must contribute to this effort, and hopefully once we build that capacity, once we throw in the resources, we will be able to contribute to the reduction of crime in Fiji.”
