LID TO BE LIFTED ON SUBSTANCE ABUSE

ABU DHABI //The first survey to uncover the extent of drug and
alcohol abuse in the country will begin this week.

The National Rehabilitation Centre (NRC) and the UN Office on Drugs
and Crime (UNODC) are scheduled to sign an agreement on Tuesday to
start compiling information on the prevalence of abuse, the kinds of
drugs being used, the age range of those using, and where they live.

The results will be used to provide focus to the NRC's awareness
campaigns as well as guide its drugs prevention policies. The country
currently lacks any national statistics for alcohol and drug abuse,
with police and hospitals keeping their own separate records.

News of the agreement coincides with yesterday's International Day
Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, and follows Friday's
government announcement that efforts to keep illegal drugs out of the
country have been stepped up with increased vigilance at border crossings.

Dubai Customs said it had foiled 251 drug smuggling attempts over the
last five months, a 33 per cent increase compared with the same
period last year.

Dr Ahmed Yousif, the NRC's medical director, said addiction is a
"matter of national security" .

"There are not enough inpatient beds for the number of people who are
presenting themselves with addictions," he said. "This is a chronic,
recurrent brain disease. National surveys must be done to know about
any areas of mental health.

"It is still highly stigmatised and, as such, you struggle to get any
clear picture. You can't just rely on your statistics - there are so
many agencies involved, police, hospitals. Our number of inpatients
doesn't give you a clue about how the problem is out there."

The NRC was first established for Emiratis in 2002 and since then,
has had nearly 400 male inpatients, aged between 18 and 65, although
the majority are between 20 and 50.

Next year, the facility will take its first cohort of females and by
2014, they will have a new facility beside Mafraq Hospital with 200
beds for both males and females.

On average, eight new patients present themselves each week as outpatients.

"Addiction does not spare any social class," said Dr Yousif. "The
poor, the unemployed, the educated."

However, he said the majority of patients are unemployed. "A great
number have lost jobs because of their illness and it makes getting
back into the job market more difficult because of the stigma and
other factors."

The dean of the faculty of medicine and health science at UAE
University, Prof Mohammed Baniyas, says that it is time the issue was
tackled head on.

"The whole area of substance abuse has been neglected, it's been a
taboo in the society," he said. "I'm glad that the two institutions
[NRC and UAE University] are committed to the rights of the patients
and the population. The issues of prevention and educating dedicated
healthcare professionals are vital, as well as committing to the
continued treatment of patients to ensure they do not relapse."

Since 2002, Dr Yousif said that trends and shifts have begun, with
more and more patients moving away from substances such as heroin,
cannabis or alcohol, towards prescription drugs such as painkillers
or tranquillisers such as Valium.

This trend, he says, is apparent across the globe. "With analgesics,
it's difficult to prove in court that you didn't need them if you
have a prescription and the penalties are much less, although much of
it is still available on the black market."

Dr Yousif says the whole concept of rehabilitation and treatment is
new here and that standalone rehabilitation centres will never work.

It is only with the development of a structured social services
framework, such as help getting housing and employment, that addicts
will be able to recover and reintegrate into society.

Dr Hisham al Arabi, the head of research at the NRC, said there are
many socioeconomic factors behind the research.

"Many issues come up as a result of drug abuse such as family
disruption, child neglect, violence to family members. We have to
identify the burden it puts on society and this involves extensive research."

Dr Yousif says it is also difficult to rehabilitate in a society in
which addicts are in turn criminals.

"Society and families expect that rehabilitation centres are like
washing machines. You put something in and expect it to come out
clean. The reality is that recovery takes a very long time, often many years."

Support groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous
have existed for over 30 years in the Emirates.

"Support groups depend on the society and culture," said Dr Yousif.
"They work fine for a western society but we are not there yet. It takes time."

The numbers

400 Male inpatients at the National Rehabilitation Centre (NRC) since
it was established in 2002

251 Drug smuggling attempts Dubai Customs foiled over the pastfive months

33 Per cent increase in drug smuggling attempts in Dubai over the
last five months compared to last year

17 Drug-related deaths in Sharjah last year

8 New outpatients on average who present themselvesat NRC each week