Abu Dhabi: New strategy to combat drug addiction, ensure quick treatment of substance users

The Department of Community Development (DCD) has launched an integrated strategy for combating drug use, addiction and ensuring quick treatment of substance users in the emirate.

The Abu Dhabi Integrated Strategy to Combat Addiction (2022-2024) under the theme, ‘A Community Safe from Addiction’ aims at developing a holistic system to prevent substance use, enabling early identification and intervention, providing appropriate treatment to substance users, and ensuring fast reintegration of recovering individuals into their families and society.

The strategy was developed in collaboration with local and federal entities, private and third sectors.

The strategy focuses on five pillars:

1. Limiting drug supply and controlling access to narcotics

2. Strengthening prevention efforts and early intervention through educational campaigns and parent education programs

3. Identification and treatment, including examination, follow-up and referrals and launch of multichannel platforms to raise awareness about drug problems

4. Reintegrating recovering individuals into the community

5. Introducing enablers that include a code of conduct to ensure confidentiality of patients and development of a legislative framework related to addiction.

During the launch of the strategy on Monday, Dr Mugheer Khamis Al Khaili, Chairman of the Department of Community Development, said: “Abu Dhabi Integrated Strategy to Combat Addiction plays a key role in enabling individuals, society and stakeholders to carry out their roles and responsibilities based on the principle of integration, cooperation and best practices that help protect individuals and families from negative behaviour like drug abuse which will ensure proper and healthy integration to former recovering individuals back into the society in a positive way.”

He added: “The taskforce representing different sectors worked on developing the strategy based on guidelines that rely on best practices and international charters, such as the need to focus on early prevention and the importance of providing necessary treatment and rehabilitation support to different groups.

"The Department of Community Development has a responsibility to build an integrated system through cooperation with relevant authorities, which will help in early identification of cases, and adoption of approaches and mechanisms to ensure social reintegration of recovering substance users. We expect that after enforcing the strategy, it will decrease drug use rate and related deaths and increase the number of people getting treatment.”

The DCD has also launched along with its partners “My Community’s with me” campaign on digital platforms which coincides with the new launch of the strategy. The campaign aims to raise awareness and promote prevention, early identification, treatment and family and community reintegration.