Nearly 8,500 people entered drug treatment centers in Uzbekistan, chief narcologist at the Ministry of Health/director of Republican Specialized Scientific and Practical Medical Center for Mental Health Zarifjon Ashurov said at a press conference in Tashkent Monday.
According to him, 60% of patients with drug addiction are aged 46-60. However, in recent years, the number of younger patients, aged 25 to 30, has been growing.
Last year, the number of patients who joined drug treatment centers reached 5,300; this year, the figure has increased significantly. Today, there are nearly 8,500. Over the past five years, the number of patients with addiction has increased by 53%. The number of people registered at drug treatment centers due to synthetic drug use has quadrupled. Opium addiction has doubled, Zarifjon Ashurov added.
The director explained that the inpatient facility has only 2,400 beds, and drug addicts undergo both voluntary and mandatory treatment.
There are no waiting lists for voluntary treatment. However, due to the limited number of beds, difficulties arise in accommodating those who are required to undergo treatment by court order. As part of the national program, we are preparing a draft resolution that will also address this issue. The document will be sent to the drug addiction service, the center's director underscored.
According to him, treating one patient with drug addiction costs the state budget up to 60 million soums per year.
Over 300 billion soums are contributed annually for treatment of all patients registered with the dispensary. Therefore, expanding or increasing inpatient services alone will not yield results. A positive impact can be achieved by improving outpatient or day hospital care. I have only discussed the costs of inpatient care. Drug addiction services have also been set up in 288 districts and cities, and their costs are also covered by the state budget. I can't say that the funding we're contributed is insufficient, stated Zarifjon Ashurov.
According to a Ministry of Health spokesperson, 36,366 patients received treatment from January to November. Of these, 25,919 were voluntarily treated, and 3,806 were treated by court order. Specifically, 1,882 patients were treated as day patients, and 4,759 as outpatients.
Earlier, , Director of the National Drug Control Center Ravshan Mamatov warned of the widespread prevalence of so-called pharmacy addiction among young people. The Deputy Tashkent Mayor Durdona Rakhimova also underscored the rise in synthetic drug use among schoolchildren.
In Uzbekistan, the fight against pharmacy addiction has been ongoing for several years. In particular, in December 2019, a procedure was put in place for sale of potent medications only in social pharmacies and strictly by prescription, with a new list of such drugs approved (at that time, the drugs Andante, Lyrica and Tropicamide were included on the list).
