UN
From crib to classroom: Alarming levels of school-age drug addiction in Afghanistan
KABUL - Today, an international delegation spearheaded by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) completed a critical three-day mission assessing the situation of drug-dependence amongst Afghan school-age children.
UNODC was joined by the World Health WHO, Johns Hopkins University, the US Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), The University of Vienna, The Colombo Plan Drug Advisory Project and NIDA International; as well as supported by Afghanistan’s Ministry of Counter Narcotics, Ministry of Public Health and civil society organisations.
INL funded the mission with a view to scaling up drug-demand reduction services aimed at children and their families.
Head of delegation Dr. Gilberto Gerra, chief of the Drug Prevention and Health Branch of UNODC, sends a clear message that “Afghanistan’s children and youth are the country’s tomorrow - we urgently need to respond to the most vulnerable and hidden face of Afghanistan’s opium problem today.”
Children in conflict and post-conflict areas are often heavily affected by severe problems and war-related traumas, both physical and mental. On top of this, recent research by the INL has shown alarming trends in the exposure of children to opium in the home.
The interim INL report, “Opium Smoke: The study of second- and third- hand exposure in women and children in Afghanistan” reveals startling findings. “Samples obtained from children in opium-consuming homes show remarkably high concentrations of the narcotic, even higher than concentrations found in samples from adult heroin addicts,” says Thom Browne of INL.
The delegation visited places where the most hard-to-reach hidden populations were to be found. Orphanages, detention centres, existing drug treatment/harm reduction centres, and services for street (vendor) children were targeted within the community.
Findings from the multi-agency mission will be used to develop drug-dependence treatment interventions specially tailored for the youth.
Dr. Gerra urges “donors and policy-makers to increase children’s and families’ access to drug-treatment services and establish new programmes to meet their specific and often complex needs.”
