Drug Treatment and Management Training in Prison Inaugurated
Drug use has been identified as one of the ominous problems that the society faces now-a-days. Every drug dependent person has different and complex difficulties to go through in the process of recovering from such harmful behavior. Person-centered treatment strategy is thus essential for each drug dependent patient. The crucial part of the treatment not only requires the involvement of the patients, but also the involvement of their families and the community.
As part of Dhaka Ahsania Mission (DAM) capacity building initiatives to the prison staffs for better management of drug dependent prisoners, an online three days long training on Basic Drug Treatment and Management Training for prison staffs has been held on 29 May 2021. Training was organized by the Bangladesh Prisons Department and Dhaka Ahsania Mission through GIZ Bangladesh with funding from the German Government and the British Government. Additional Secretary of the Security Services Division of the Ministry of Home Affairs Md. KhairulAlam Sheikh, Inspector General of Prisons Brigadier General Md. Mominur Rahman Mamun and Tahera Yesmin, Director (Operations) Rule of Law Programme, GIZ were present as guests of the opening ceremony. Objectives of training and the opening speech were delivered by Iqbal Masud, Director of DAM and Global Master Trainer of Colombo Plan and member of the National Anti-Drug Committee of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
In the objective sharing, Iqbal Mausd said that, after the end of the training, the participants would be able to deal with drug dependent prisoners more effectively and would be able to refer them to the right place for their treatment.
The training would be conducted by internationally certified addiction professionals. A Total of 3 batch training would be held with the prison staffs from 13 central jails across the country. Training would be facilitate and coordinated by Health sector of Dhaka Ahsania Mission.
These are some of the topics that would be discussed in the training sessions; types of drugs used in Bangladesh, the cause of drug dependence, drug taking effects and consequences, physical and mental health status caused by taking drugs and suicide risk, Symptoms and risks of drug withdrawal inside prisons, medicines and its application Used In the management of drug withdrawal symptoms, Principles of effective treatment, relapse prevention, special care for women and children drug dependent.
In the future through the collaboration with the prison department and GIZ, DAM will take some initiatives to prevent drug dependency in prisons. Such as, develop training manual on drug treatment and management, enhance capacity to prison staffs through provide TOT (Training of Trainers) on drug treatment and management, drug counseling and develop IEC and BCC materials etc. These initiatives would create awareness to prisoners.
It may be mentioned here that Dhaka Ahsania Mission has been implementing the prison project since 2014 with the technical assistance of GIZ Bangladesh on the basis of partnership between the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Department of Prisons. DAM started its drug prevention activities in 1990 and established three Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Centers for male and female drug dependents. DAM has received 1st prize several times from Department of Narcotics Control (DNC) for outstanding contribution in treatment and rehabilitation services. Besides, DAM has also received best award for Publications and Research in 2013 and 1st prize for anti drug awareness activities in 2017. In addition, DAM is an education provider of the Colombo Plan for Universal Treatment Curriculum and Living Drug Free (Child) Curriculum in Bangladesh.