Last yr, 537 kids treated at de-addiction centres

Bhartesh Singh Thakur

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 23

A total of 537 children attended de-addiction centres in Haryana in 2020. State Drug Dependence Treatment Centre at Rohtak alone catered to 108 children last year, including 52 in OPD, 52 through counselling and four as in-patients.

At Ankush Foundation, Hisar, 86 children attended de-addiction services, with 32 in OPD, 43 took counselling and 11 required admission.

Loona Neuropsychiatry and De-addiction Centre, Panchkula, confirmed about 50 children attending OPD and 50 receiving counselling.

These facts have come to the fore in ‘Drug De-addiction Centres’ Data Report 2021’, compiled by the Haryana State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (HSCPCR).

The report covered 41 de-addiction centres across 17 districts and pointed out that in total, 215 attended OPD, 268 took counselling and 54 required admissions at the in-patient level.

Hisar reported maximum cases (122), followed by 110 in Rohtak and 102 in Panchkula.

Also, 171 male and 60 female children have been attending OPD across these centres on an average in a month.

For the survey, the Commission had sent out a detailed questionnaire to the de-addiction centres.

The results pointed that while nearly all the centres saw an inflow of child patients, but most attended OPD or took counselling.

Only a handful of centres saw children being admitted at the in-patient level. The report said it might be due to the lack of willingness of parents or lack of specialised staff or facilities for allowing children at in-patient level, particularly during the early stages of the addiction.

On substance use, State Drug Dependence Treatment Centre at Rohtak reported heroin or smack along with cannabis as the commonly used drugs while Ankush Foundation of Hisar reported heroin, inhalants and cannabis.

The replies from the centres reflected that besides smoking and cannabinoids, children also fell prey to correction fluid and polish thinners.

Earlier, the National Survey on Extent and Pattern of Substance Use in India 2019, conducted by the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, also pointed out that the number of children who need help for inhalant use is the fifth highest in Haryana.

Chairperson HSCPCR Jyoti Bainda has written to Social Justice and Empowerment Department on April 22 for establishing separate drug de-addiction centres for children in five districts — Rohtak, Gurugram, Panipat or Sonepat, Panchkula and Sirsa or Fatehabad.

“These centres must be established with a focus not only on providing treatment, but also to prioritise education and vocational rehabilitation of children. If possible, a separate helpline number should be started where children can call and seek help if they don’t feel comfortable talking to anyone around them,” she said.

“The children need special psychological care and mixing with adult patients at general de-addiction centres could be counterproductive,” she said.

“The capacity of the overall health system particularly mental health services need to be enhanced for tackling drug de-addiction in children. Specialised de-addiction centres for children should be opened but in a hub-and-spoke model. One or two big institutes could monitor and train smaller facilities. There should be a chain referral system,” said Prof Atul Ambedkar, National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre, AIIMS, New Delhi.

Bainda has also written to Chief Secretary for implementing Section 77 and 78 of Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 in drug peddling cases involving children. She complained that cases are being filed only under NDPS Act while there are special laws for giving liquor or narcotic drugs or psychotropic substance to children or using them as vendors, peddlers and suppliers.