Center for drug dependents opens

THE Center for Health Development (CHD) in Davao Region staged its soft opening of the Outpatient and Aftercare Center for Drug Dependents located inside the Department of Health (DOH) in Davao Region compound along J.P. Laurel Ave. Thursday morning.

No less than Undersecretary Edgar Galvante of the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) and Assistant Secretary Benjamin Reyes graced the inauguration of the P7-million two-storey building.

Program manager Rustum Fanugao Jr. said the facility is the first-ever outpatient center for drug dependents in the Philippines.

"The purpose of this facility is to cater outpatient drug users who will surrender voluntarily. Most of the patients in the rehabilitation center have been arrested so this facility is built to help drug pushers who will surrender," Fanugao said in the vernacular.

Fanugao said the Outpatient and Aftercare Center for Drug Dependents has many support groups composed of different families who have a drug dependent family member who will help in spreading the advocacy of their program.

"We are confident that the advocacy of the program will easily be a widespread as the different support groups are very passionate about solving the issue of drugs because they are also suffering from it," he said.

Fanugao added that once a patient is admitted, he or she will be given free services which include the urine drug test, psychological and evaluation and the drug dependency examination.

A family counseling and focused group discussions are also conducted to the outpatients.

"These programs are very helpful since we will do constant monitoring of our patients so that they will be able to combat drug dependency and avoid further addiction to illegal substances in the future," Fanugao said.

The center has a medical room, counseling room, and administrative and legal offices.

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Center for drug dependents opens