Drug Addiction: Our Denial Is As Deadly As The Tragedy We Deny

By Dr William Ruto,

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 27- I hosted this important gathering on Saturday in recognition of an issue that continues to receive less attention, yet its implications are far reaching at the individual, family, community and national level.

Addiction continues to ravage our social fabric at a devastating rate, yet the stigma, blame and shame associated with it puts its victims beyond the reach of solutions, making the cycle of despair and destitution remain uninterrupted.

In these tearful shadows, legions of people grieve, broken souls, even trust and dreams destroyed as society struggles desperately to pretend about the existence of the crisis. Our denial is as deadly as the tragedy we deny.

It is time for our collective spotlight to shine, the strong light of compassion and support and pull our children, brothers and sisters out of the cracks they have slipped through.

Today, we commemorate the International Day Against Drug abuse and Illicit Trafficking. This year’s event occurs in the midst of unprecedented global challenges.

The Covid-19 pandemic and associated disruptions have strained our psychological resilience, interrupted all normal expectations and inflicted on us anxiety and stress. Coupled with direct and indirect experiences of loss: of jobs, incomes, loved ones, health and well-being .

It is important to reflect on the ways that this truly merciless pandemic has impacted the most vulnerable in our midst, especially those who have diminished expectations of empathy.

The existential shocks brought about by the pandemic can only have compounded the strain and vulnerability experienced by persons struggling with addiction.

I thank you sincerely for joining me in this celebration. I am deeply honoured by the privilege of being in the midst of people and organisations who have sacrificed their time, skills and financial resources to support persons struggling with addiction.

I appreciate the tremendous compassion that not only impelled you to shed stigma and judgment and to embrace compassion, but also inspired you with the grace to invest your resources in this profoundly humanitarian cause.

That is special, and you people are very special. On my behalf, and on behalf of the Government of Kenya, I thank you for the work you continue to do, and look forward to enhancing present collaborations and partnerships into an effective addiction and related mental health management framework.

It is scientifically established that addiction is a disease. We must urgently discard harmful myths and attitudes that persecute and stigmatise those struggling with addiction. Instead, we have to create an environment that is supportive and brings professional help within their reach.

Most of us will know someone who is struggling with addiction to drugs and alcohol, and have witnessed the ravages of the problem on their lives: ill health, unemployment, poverty and social alienation. We cannot sit by and watch so much promise go to waste when solutions are at hand. Addiction is preventable and treatable.

Moreover, addiction rehabilitation services are effective in enabling people gradually recover.

Obviously, a significant portion of attitude change towards addiction has to occur at the government level in terms of public policy management.

Criminalizing addiction and addressing it through policing not only exacerbates the stigma around it, it drives affected people underground, outside the reach of rehabilitation and treatment as health conditions. Critically, it is not an efficient way of addressing root causes and prevention, which are best handled through education. We simply have to be efficient and effective about this problem, and we can afford to be humane and compassionate about it.

As we commemorate this International Day against drug abuse and Illicit Trafficking, we also mark 33 years since the first rehabilitation centre was established in Kenya.

This was in Asumbi, Homa Bay county. Since then, the number of accredited centers has grown to nearly 200 facilities. The progress has been monumental, but there is considerable way to go.

It is also worth noting that the majority of these facilities are run by non-state actors who have sacrificed their resources out of philanthropy and solidarity.

Today, we will launch the national rehabilitation facility operators organization, to be known as Addiction Prevention and Rehabilitation Association of Kenya, APRAK.

As an umbrella organization, APRAK will bring together individuals, professional organisations and facility operators to coordinate and enhance national focus on the prevention of addiction and the rehabilitation of persons with alcohol and other drug addictions. Government looks forward to partnering with you and other stakeholders in accomplishing this tremendous task.

It is therefore appropriate to engage in discussions about how government can complement these efforts in order to expand the reach of these services and scale up their efficacy, including the possibility of subsidizing the cost, which remains prohibitive for a substantial proportion of needy cases.

There are proposals for component of rehabilitation focusing on the management of health-related issues to benefit, for instance, from NHIF coverage of outpatient and residential cost, and I believe that it is worthy of serious consideration and action.

It is also time for us to activate the statutory rehabilitation mechanism established by the Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances control Act. In particular, the Rehabilitation Fund ought to be speedily established in order to make resources available to support the effective rehabilitation of more Kenyans who would otherwise be unable to access these services.

The Ministry for Health will in due course issue appropriate guidelines on its implementation . It will also be necessary to engage the county governments to ensure that outpatient addiction treatment services are available at all levels of our healthcare delivery system as per the Mental Health Act.

Addiction prevention and management, as well as associated mental health dimensions are actually cross-cutting policy challenges that demand coordinated inter-ministerial responses. This applies also to the need to harmonise standards of care provision, especially the alignment of Treatment and Rehabilitation with global best practices.

To avoid a scenario where different service providers operate by some standards whilst government runs on another, it is best that the Ministry of the Interior and Coordination of National Government step in and develop an appropriate framework.

The threat that drug trafficking, use and addiction poses to the youth as well as our society is a pandemic in its own scale. The social and economic consequences of the problem are dire. We face the serious possibility of grave national vulnerability through the continued erosion of the potential that our youth embody. It is therefore time to join hands and act together with great urgency in eliminating the problem.

The entire criminal justice system must develop appropriate strategies to combat drug trafficking in robust ways that do not criminalise illness or deny treatment to addicted persons.

Courts should consider addiction treatment referral as part of their interventions to enable correctional services fully integrate the rehabilitation of persons with alcohol and drug addictions.

To facilitate this, Addiction Rehabilitation Centres and appropriate engagements with communities will go a long way in restoring hope, especially by customizing approaches to suit local contexts, and employing traditional knowledge and sociocultural frameworks.

Beyond optimism and ambition, we must fully engage our imaginations in developing solutions to problems. Technological innovations to help deliver services, as well as alternative therapies including herbal treatments, alternative medicines and spiritual practices should be facilitated.

I believe that government policy that deliberately seeks to engage and employ all people in productive activity goes a long way in minimizing and mitigating vulnerability and susceptibility, disrupting the catchment population for addiction.

Higher education institutions now have to mainstream addiction counselling and management into their teaching, research and innovation curricula.

I call on political leaders to desist from enticing young people with alcohol and addictive substances during campaigns. Instead, let us engage them on how we can use their energy and talent to make Kenya prosperous, competitive and innovative.

Let us do our part to catalyse their tremendous transformative potential, and avoid selfish and cynical acts that will enable the destruction of entire generations. I also call on employers to scale up employee assistance programmes that address alcohol and drug use, recognize addiction as a disease and manage it as such.

The dividends of such an approach cuts across the entire spectrum of society.

Our schools in particular have a foundational role in ensuring that the learning environment is safe for both learners and teachers from the predatory pressures and enticements of traffickers.

This includes the physical environment as well as information, sound education and psychosocial support to reduce those mental and emotional vulnerabilities that create opportunities for addiction to take root.

Adolescent management and positive youth development must be enhanced to fully engage the potential of all our youngsters in an affirmative direction.

Post-rehabilitation engagement is also essential to minimize the risk of relapse. Various programmes must be encouraged to activate an appropriate affirmative component so that our brothers and sisters find their way back into productive society and stay there.

Our republic is founded on national values and principles of governance that speak to us with a vital message today. At all times, the state and all its officers must operate in ways that observe and enhance human dignity, social justice, inclusiveness, human rights and which protect the marginalized. Human dignity is expressed as a fundamental right under Article 28 of the constitution.

It is clear from the architecture of our governance that there is unstoppable resolve by the people of Kenya to become a just, inclusive and compassionate society. I see this compassion as extending to all persons, especially the vulnerable. Our work with persons struggling with addiction is therefore a big test of how compassionate we are as a people.

I am grateful to all the stakeholders who have made this commemorative event and launch possible. I commend the noble work of APRAK, ISSUP Kenya, NACADA, ONODC and the Global fund in anchoring initiatives to highlight this critical subject and build knowledge and acceptance around it.

As a result of all this work, Kenya is now ranked fifth globally in terms of capacity to handle addictions. Well done, and keep up the brilliant work.

It is my pleasure to declare this event officially opened. I am also honoured to preside over the official launch of the National Association for the Prevention and Rehabilitation, APRAK.

Dr William Ruto is the Deputy President of Kenya.