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| Afghanistan |
| Health Minister Accuses Officials of Dealing in Drugs |
| 2015-10-20 |
| [Tolo News] Minister of Public Health Ferozuddin Feroz on Tuesday said a number of government officials are involved in dealing in drugs, especially in Kabul ...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the Worldand didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either.... . He did not however give names but said this practice has led to a sharp increase in drug addicts in the country. Feroz, along with the deputy minister of interior affairs on counter-narcotics, had been summoned to the Wolesi Jirga (Lower House of Parliament) to answer questions over the spike in drug addicts in Afghanistan. Feroz warned that unless the guilty officials are brought to justice, all efforts to fight the scourge will be useless. "As long as government officials are involved in distributing drugs to addicts all efforts will be undermined which is unfortunately a big challenge," he said. In addition, he complained the government has not budgeted for building facilities to treat addicts. He also said that more than 80 percent of drug addicts in the country have received treatment but that at least 60 percent have gone back to their old habits. "Until we are provided with a budget, our strategy to treat addicts will fail," he said adding that the ministry of finance has not given his ministry enough money to deal with this problem. Feroz states that despite 45,000 addicts being treated a year, the health ministry's efforts to curb the problem are no helping. Meanwhile, ...back at the pound, the little lost dog backed into the corner and showed its teeth. And what big teeth they were!... the MPs also complained about the lack of drug addiction treatment centers in the country, which they directly link to the sharp increase in addicts in the country. Robaba Parwani, an MP, said: "The number of drug addicts increase daily in Kabul and there are not enough centers to treat them." However other politicians stressed the need for the counter-narcotics law to be amended in order to resolve the issue. |
| Posted by:Fred |