Drug and substance abusers strain the already little resources availed to the ministry of health, the Matobo District Medical Officer highlighted at the recently held anti-drug campaign.
Matobo District Medical Officer (DMO) Dr Mthunzi said that much needed resources at the district hospital must be redirected to drug and substance abusers.
“The health system is already strained, when we add people who are mentally disturbed as a result of drug abuse, transporting them to hospitals such as Mpilo as we have heard from the psychiatrist that psychiatric units are insufficient in the country. We will be wasting resources that could have been used to attend to naturals causes that we encounter,” said Dr Mthunzi.
Dr Mthunzi added that drug and substance abuse has increased the number of health cases that their night shift staff have to attend to.
“Maphisa has a lot of assault cases and most of them are related to substance abuse. At night we will be hoping to only attend to delivering mothers, however, we find ourselves attending to cases of injured individuals,”
He added that drugs are destroying the future of the youth, as those who would have loved to assume different leadership positions will be addicts.
“We expect them to be doctors, ministers, lawyers of tomorrow and people who will lead us tomorrow,” added DMO.
These sentiments were shared at the recently held campaign against drug and substance abuse in Maphisa, under the theme; Say NO to drugs and substance abuse: Lets protect our future.
The event which was organised by the Seventh Day Adventist Church together with government stakeholders and non-governmental organisations in Matobo district sought to highlight the implications of drug and substance abuse on an individual and the community at large.
