Drug de-addiction centre in GMSH-16 to reopen this year
As part of the conference, a point of discussion was that substance is now being seen in children, women, the elderly, prisoners, the homeless, and the LGBTQ community.
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The woman, who belongs to the Patidar community, is the only one among the four accused who was released on bail after protests from within the community and the opposition AAP and Congress over her being allegedly "paraded" in public on December 29 (Representative image)The de-addiction centre at the Government Medical Specialty Hospital, Sector 16 (GMSH-16) is set to reopen with more beds in the new year. According to Dr. Suman Singh, Director Health Services, efforts are on to hire more staff and restart the centre.
The drug de-addiction and treatment centre at the GMSH-16 was opened about 10 years back, with a facility of about 12 beds, catering to people from across the region. During the pandemic, to cater to the increasing number of patients, it was turned into a Covid facility, and since then, has been non-operational due to a lack of staff, and only two psychiatrists catering to both psychiatry and patients with addictions.
The PGIMER is the only government facility in the city offering a drug de-addiction centre with an admission facility for patients as only psychiatry services are offered at the GMCH-32. In 2023, the PGIMER’s drug de-addiction centre had an OPD of 36,683 patients, with around 246 admissions, and a large number of patients from Punjab. In Punjab, the highest use is of opioids, with synthetic drugs now also being used more frequently.
At a recent Continuing Medical Education (CME) conference on addiction psychiatry in PGI, doctors discussed how among public health concerns, the disease burden associated with alcohol, illicit and prescription drug problems, is substantial. Substance use disorders are increasing in society and the use among special populations (children and adolescents, women, old age etc) is also being reported.
As part of the conference, a point of discussion was that substance is now being seen in children, women, the elderly, prisoners, the homeless, and the LGBTQ community.
Debashish Basu, Head, Department of Psychiatry, PGIMER, says that the need of the hour is to think beyond centres, and make changes that involve various stakeholders of society. Subodh B N, Additional Professor, Department of Psychiatry, PGIMER, says a decade back, 80 per cent of cases were of alcohol dependency, but now the percentage is 50, as the use of opioids and cannabis has increased.
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