OUTPATIENT TREATMENT CENTRE ARE A BIGGER DRAW IN DASUYA

DASUYA : With the launch of the Outpatient Opioid Assisted Treatment (OOAT) centre in May, enrollment for the residential de-addiction centre in the civil hospital declined. Most addicts are now being treated at the OOAT centre, where they get a daily dose of Buprenorphine and Naloxon.

“It’s convenient for the patient, who is given a unique identification code using which one can get the regular dose from any centre,” says de-addiction nodal officer Dr Baldev Singh. More than 85 patients have got themselves registered with OOAT so far.

At present, 12 patients are admitted in the de-addiction centre. Most are in their twenties and were introduced to drugs by friends. One of them says he is the only son of his parents. He started taking habit-forming capsules seven years ago but soon his friends got him hooked to ‘chitta’. To satisfy his cravings, he became an unwitting courier of the substance and would sell household items for his daily fix. “My family learnt about my habit very late. They sold land to fulfil my needs but when they became bankrupt, they forced me to join the de-addiction centre,” he says.

His first attempt at reformation failed as he quit the treatment in less than a month. On July 5, he again got himself admitted. “I want to come clean and start a new life. I don’t want to give more pain to my parents,” he says.

Centre psychiatrist Harjit Singh says the patients were being helped to kick the habit through counselling and meditation. The centre has a counsellor, four medical staff members, two helpers and round-the-clock security. Treatment for poor patients is free, while others are charged ₹200 a day.