To eradicate drugs from the society, the ‘Drug Abuse and Prevention Officer (DAPO)’ drive is being effectively run in Barnala district as 3,630 patients have been registered for drug de-addiction in six OOAT clinics. While disclosing the information, Deputy Commissioner Barnala Tej Partap Singh Phoolka said that around 1,100 people from various locations of the region administer daily dose of de-addiction medicine from these Out Patient Opioid Assisted Treatment (OOAT) Clinics.Mr. Phoolka said that these clinics have been started in May and during first two months, only 32 patients get themselves registered for de-addiction treatment. He added that in the month of July the number was 623 and in August, the number of patients was highest with 1712 registrations. He said that in September, the footfall of patients started declining as the number came down to 602 patients and in October, only 312 patients get themselves registered for the treatment.“After the month of November, the number of drug addicted patients came down significantly as only 349 patients were registered during the three months period till January.
The declining figures in the registration process prove that the de-addiction drive became a success in Barnala,” Tej Partap Phoolka said.DC added that the campaign against the drugs has been started by the Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh to not only root out the drug menace, but also for rehabilitation of addicts by providing them free treatment. He said that the authorities of OOAT centres and private drug de addiction centres have been strictly instructed to ensure functioning of clinics and centres as per Standard Operating Protocol and mark daily attendance of patients.Meanwhile, Civil Surgeon Barnala Dr. Jugal Kishore said that the health department followed need based approach that required people only with severe problem to be admitted in indoor facilities and most of the people can be treated in OPD Facility.Psychiatrist is the overall in-charge of the OOAT clinic and health department has already trained the Medical officers, Counselors, Staff Nurses and Data Entry Operators for smooth operation of these clinics,” he added.