More drug addicts seek rehab centre help

Director general says 70% of patients have been admitted voluntarily, rather than being sent through court system.

Seven out of 10 patients at the country’s largest drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre voluntarily admitted themselves.

Of the 364 who have entered the National Rehabilitation Centre this year, only 30 per cent were admitted through the criminal justice system.

Dr Hamad Al Ghaferi, director general of the NRC, said these figures signified a huge shift in the way the community viewed addicts. It is the first time the numbers have been released.

“We started in 2002 and since then there has been a gradual increase in the number of cases and in the type of cases,” Dr Al Ghaferi said. “We have now reached the level of 70 per cent voluntary admissions.

“This shows how we have increased the level of trust in the centre and in the services offered, and at the same time the trust people feel in their society. Trust is very important.

“Families are trusting us to help with issues and we have many educational programmes that spread our message.

“We have people not just from Abu Dhabi but from nearby emirates. And now I’ve started to receive help requests from other Gulf countries.”

In the early days, the number sent from the courts usually outweighed voluntary patients by at least three to one, he said.

Social stigma surrounding drugs and alcohol meant many families kept problems quiet or sent relatives abroad for treatment.

Involuntary cases have usually been forced into rehabilitation by the courts, which demand inpatient treatment as a condition of avoiding jail terms.

All of the patients are Emiratis, as most expatriates arrested on drugs charges are forced to return to their home countries after serving their sentences.

“Nowadays we have very active outpatient clinics where we receive new patients often,” Dr Al Ghaferi said. “Even once the patients who come from the criminal justice system finish inpatient treatment, they voluntarily use outpatient services.

“This is a big change in a conservative community where drugs and alcohol are illegal.”

In the past decade the centre has put more effort into building its outpatient network, including social reintegration programmes and efforts to raise awareness among vulnerable groups, such as prison inmates and young men.

Its main inpatient centre recently moved from the heart of Abu Dhabi city to Khalifa City A to cope with growing demand.

It has 120 beds and has an average of between 15 and 20 patients a month, with increasing numbers of those aged under 18. In 2002 it received only one patient in the first six months.

There are also plans to build an NRC clinic in Ajman, as requested by the emirate’s Ruler, Sheikh Humaid bin Rashid Al Nuaimi, to allow addicts to seek help closer to their families.

Since the NRC opened, it has had more than 1,800 patients, with numbers rising each year.

Dr Al Ghaferi said the number of women patients was also slowly increasing.

There are no comprehensive figures on drug use in the UAE. Statistics are collected by individual emirates or agencies and are rarely made public.

A recent report, produced by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, said a “lack of data” made it difficult to know whether reported increases in opiate seizures in the Middle East were an indication of increased heroin use or of traffickers using new routes through the region.

Other countries including Thailand, Poland and Uganda have reported seizing cocaine that arrived across their borders through the UAE.