UNODC tackles drug abuse with launch of four policy publications

In a decisive move to combat the hydra headed problem of drug dependence among millions of Nigerian youths and widespread incidence of drug induced criminality and violence in the country, the United Nation Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), is set to launch four different publications on important policies and guidelines for controlled medicines and drug dependence treatment.

The publications which were developed jointly by UNODC, Federal Ministry of Health and National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) will be launched next week in Abuja by the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole and the Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof. Moji Christianah Adeyeye under the auspices of UNODC.

According to a statement by the Director,Special Duties of NAFDAC, Dr. Abubakar Jimoh,the four publications are National policy for Controlled Medicines, National Minimum Standards for Drug Dependence Treatment in Nigeria, National Guidelines on Quantification of Narcotics for Medical and Scientific Purposes and National Guidelines for the Estimation of Psychotropic Substances and Precursors.

UNODC Programme Officer, Elisabeth Bayer, in the statement, said the official launch of the four publications will be followed by a formal launch in April this year in all the six Geo-political Zones in the country.

The statement recalled that the aggravated dimension of the problem of drug abuse and it’s intricate linkage with wide spread cases of criminality, violence and insurgences in the country recently prompted the wife of the President Mrs Aisha Mohammadu Buhari to launch a national campaign against all forms of abuse.

It also noted that the launch by the wife of the President was followed by a roundtable conference on Drug Abuse organized by the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki even as the NAFDAC Boss, Prof. Adeyeye is joining the fray to flag-off massive Drug Abuse Campaign across the country.

The statement added that in recent times, the problem of drug abuse particularly among millions of Nigerian youths and house wives has become major headache for government, traditional and religious institution, international drug control agencies, families and well meaning Nigerians because of the havoc caused by the dangerous phenomenon.