Anti-drug authorities in Cambodia and the Narcotics Control Board in Thailand are teaming up to provide a three-day training stint on drug addiction treatment and rehabilitation. NACD
Anti-drug authorities in Cambodia and the Narcotics Control Board in Thailand are teaming up to provide a three-day training stint on drug addiction treatment and rehabilitation.
The training is for officials who will work at the National Rehabilitation Centre in Preah Sihanouk which is set to open in November.
In a Tuesday Facebook post, the National Authority for Combating Drugs (NACD) said the training will run from August 11-13 and involve legal knowledge, theory and practical skills.
NACD secretary-general Meas Vyrith told The Post the training is in line with how Cambodia plans to operate its National Rehabilitation Centre in Preah Sihanouk.
Training will begin with 20 officials who will run the new centre with almost 400 drug addicts. Staff numbers will increase as the centre grows, Vyrith said.
“This centre welcomes drug addicts whose parents want their children to stay for a long period. If they do not like this centre, they can choose treatment at health centres based on a doctors advice. It is very hard to manage drug addicts, but this centre is a place which gives proper treatment,” he said.
NACD is also encouraging drug control committees in Phnom Penh and the provinces to improve treatment in communes and districts to make it easier for drug addicts to receive free treatment services, Vyrith said.
“We do not have specific data about drug addicts who receive treatment. We are creating this centre to prepare data to avoid overlap. If drug addicts get out of the centre and return, it is called a recurrence case,” he said.
Drug Addict Relief Association of Cambodia director Meas Sovann told The Post the training requires officials in the centre to be mentally strong as it is hard to manage drug addicts.
“Technically, it is not easy to heal drug addiction. In most cases it reoccurs because parents do not cooperate well or follow advice. Patients have to take medication in the centre from six months to one year to recover, but they take back their kids after three months,” Sovann said.
NACD deputy secretary-general Chey Bopha said Cambodia has managed 12,942 drug addicts in the past six months.
