Drug treatment centers and their staffs are currently at risk in Bangladesh

One of the major health issue of the modern world, which is drug dependence. Not only it hampers the public health, it also affects economic and social development. Drug dependence has been identified as one of the root causes of many criminal activities, along with impacting on physical and mental health of individuals. However, the number of the treatment and rehabilitation facilities necessary to bring the unfortunate people back to normal life is inadequate. There are a limited number of centers in our country, and the current COVID-19 situation is causing even more inadequacy to their services.

Since the first COVID-19 patient was diagnosed in Bangladesh on 8 March 2020, the country is on alert to prevent transmission of the virus. As the “General Leave” declared by the Government began, almost all institutions in our country had to put their activities on hold to aid in an effort to practice social distancing. Many centers also had to undergo tremendous modification of their services because of it.

Due to the lock-down, the patients are not seeking treatment from the treatment and rehabilitation centers. Many in-house patients also dropped out of the treatment programs due to deficient protective supplies and inadequate staff. These treatment and rehabilitation centers are the forefront fighters in the battle against drug dependence. They also contribute to the economy of the country. Moreover, many centers are run by the patients who had received treatment for similar problems before, and they hold this duty as their social responsibility. The impact of the global economic downturn due to COVID-19 also affects all professionals working with drug treatment and rehabilitation centers in Bangladesh, as these professionals risk their lives to treat and rehabilitate drug dependents without any financial incentive.

In this situation, more than 340 licensed centers and their staffs are currently at risk. There is no significant privet sector investment in this sector as there is very low direct or indirect incentive from the Government. In order to expand the services for drug dependents, it is necessary to take initiatives to establish addiction counseling centers and rehabilitation centers.

Considering the social and economic importance of such facilities, it is high time to contribute in the drug addiction treatment and rehabilitation services. Especially during this pandemic situation when these contributions are the only effective measures to help these philanthropic and noble professionals in this field to survive and continue serving the helpless drug dependents in our country.