United Nations to help state fight drug menace
Thursday, 01/06/2017
http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/united-nations-to-help-state-fight-drug-menace/415683.html
Chandigarh : The state will soon sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) as part of its efforts to intensify its war against drugs.
The decision came during a meeting here on Wednesday between Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and UNODC representative Sergey Kapinos. The MoU will be signed between the Health Department, the Special Task Force (STD) on drugs and UNODC in the second week of June, an official spokesperson said.
It was decided that a committee would be set up for the project implementation. It will be headed by the Principal Secretary Health, with STF chief ADGP Harpreet Singh Sidhu as co-convenor, besides two representatives of the UNODC.
A government spokesperson said the Chief Minister directed the Health Secretary to finalise the terms of the MoU after consultation with stakeholders. The pre-project activity will start immediately after the signing of the MoU and the execution would move forward as soon as the project funding is cleared by the UN.
In his presentation, Kapinos shared details of the “Star Strategy” developed by UNODC ROSA to facilitate the state government in protecting drug abusers, including measures to ensure their holistic rehabilitation by providing evidence-based treatment, such as Opioid Substitution Theory for people with opioid disorder, which in turn would reduce the demand for illegal opioids.
The representative also informed the Chief Minister about the Opioid Treatment Interventions being piloted by the UNODC in Kapurthala and Bathinda.
