More addicts seek treatment

More drug dependents have voluntarily submitted themselves for treatment in the outpatient and
aftercare center in Davao City, an official from the Center for Health
Development (OCD) in Region 11 said.
Rustum Fanugao, Jr., program manager of the CHD-11 Outpatient and
Aftercare Center for Drug Dependents, said in an interview Thursday
the center handled more patients this year than in 2011, with most of
the patients submitting themselves voluntarily for treatment.
He cited that the number of outpatients served by the center increased
from 13 last year to 22 this year.
Since 2004, the center has handled almost 400 drug dependents coming
from the region and from as far as the Cotabato area, he added.
Shabu, the “poor man’s cocaine,” and marijuana were the most abused
illegal drugs, Fanugao said.
He told MindaNews that such “good news,” referring to the voluntary
submission for treatment of drug addicts, is a result of a
multi-sectoral approach in the advocacy campaign against drug
addiction.
Fanugao noted that the CHD-11 is a part of an interagency group that
also includes the police, local government units, religious leaders,
and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.
First nationwide
The newly constructed two-story building of the Outpatient and
Aftercare Center for Drug Dependents located at the CHD-11 compound
in Davao City had a soft opening last Thursday.
It was the first government-run outpatient and aftercare center for
drug dependents nationwide, Fanugao said.
He said the Office of the President allocated P7 million for the
infrastructure, while the Department of Health (DOH) will provide
funds for operational expenses.
Fanugao said that the DOH-11 proposed the establishment of the center
to the Office of the President in February 2011, and the budget was
released in April this year.
“The proposal gave a big impression to the Office of the President
because of the outcome of our services,” he said.
Free of charge, the services offered in the center include drug
dependency examination, psychosocial and social evaluations, home
visitation, urine drug test, group and individual sessions, and family
counseling.
“We also try to provide common medicines for the patients’ maintenance
such as for hypertension and anti-depressant,” Fanugao said.
He said the target outpatients are employees, students and drivers,
noting that everybody is welcome to be treated in the center for free.
The aftercare program is an 18-month follow-up treatment for patients
who were temporarily discharged from a rehabilitation center, he
explained.
Fanugao said that while the center has only eight staff members,
including a psychologist and a social worker, it has 80 community
partners composing the “after care team” deployed to districts and
municipalities in the region.
Currently, the center can only handle up to 70 outpatients undergoing
a long-term program at the same time, he said, adding there are plans
to expand the capacity of the center.
Having seven outpatients and 69 patients for aftercare program, the
center is working at its ideal capacity at present, Fanugao said.
Economical approach
Fanugao said the center has proven that outpatient program in treating
drug dependents is an economical approach.
The monthly operational expenses of the center is at least P50,000,
which covers the salaries of the staff, snacks for every session and
drug test kits, he said.
He said the Colombo Plan International, an international
non-government organization, has expressed its intentions to assist
the center’s operations through additional staff and materials for
information and education in two years.
At current rates, a stay-in patient spends about P60,000 for a
six-month drug rehabilitation program in a government facility, but
pays about P25,000 per month or a total of P150,000 in a private
facility.  [Lorie Ann A. Cascaro/MindaNews]