{"id":9128,"date":"2024-04-15T05:48:48","date_gmt":"2024-04-15T05:48:48","guid":{"rendered":"\/?p=9128"},"modified":"2024-07-24T19:56:13","modified_gmt":"2024-07-24T19:56:13","slug":"dcs-partners-with-the-african-union-to-curb-drug-and-substance-abuse-in-the-sadc-region","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/?p=9128","title":{"rendered":"DCS partners with the African Union to curb drug and substance abuse in the SADC region"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Group<\/p>\n

The African Union (AU) has started integrating traditional leaders in drug dependency prevention, treatment and care to widen the reach of community interventions to address the growing burden of substance use and related mental health disorders on the continent.<\/p>\n

These interventions range from prevention to detection, treatment, rehabilitation and reintegration. The Department of Correctional Services (DCS), together with the South African Development Community (SADC) member states, National House of Traditional and Khoisan Leaders, Departments of Health, Social Development, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and other stakeholders gathered in Sandton Protea Hotel from 8 April 2024, for the SADC Traditional Leadership Drug Demand Reduction (DDR) consultation.<\/p>\n

The four-day session, which concludes on Thursday, 11 April 2024, aims to comprehend and find solutions for the rising drug trafficking in the SADC region. A pilot national network of traditional leaders on Drug Demand Reduction was initiated in South Africa in 2022 during a meeting organized by the African Union Commission in collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The
\nmeeting was aimed at affirming the role of traditional leaders as first line responders in addressing the challenge of drugs at community level. <\/p>\n

Delegates from Lesotho, Botswana, Angola, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini, Madagascar, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Seychelles, Mozambique, Tanzania and Mauritius presented drug challenges in areas under the jurisdictions of Traditional Leaders. Their presentations revealed a correlation between the challenge of drugs and high unemployment rate, curiosity and experimentation, peer pressure, poverty, ill-discipline, adolescent stage, prescription drugs and trauma. According to the Pan African Epidemiology Networks on Drugs Use, 40% increase in drug consumption is expected in Africa by 2030. Mostly used common drugs in Southern Africa include heroin, alcohol, cocaine, nyaope, khat, cannabis, ecstacy, mandrax, ATS, tramadol, inhalants, codeine, benzhexol, OTC, ATS, bluemash, and benzhexol. <\/p>\n

\"DM\"<\/p>\n

Addressing the delegates from the 16 countries and a number of stakeholders, the Deputy Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, Nkosi Phathekile Holomisa outlined measures put in place by DCS to tackle illicit drugs, substance abuse and health is- sues associated with utilization of drugs, focusing on prevention and treatment as some of the offenders incarcerated in Correctional Facilities suffer from addiction. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have developed a bespoke Substance Abuse Programme (SAP) which seeks to help offenders, probationers and parolees who are addicted to Illicit drugs and substance abuse as a foundation of their rehabilitation. This programme is delivered by DCS social workers and other partners such as the South African National Council on Alcoholism and Drug dependence (SANCA), Cape Town Drug Counselling Centre (CTDCC), Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), Narcotics Anonymous (NA) and Alma Mater Akademie in Substance Abuse,\u201d said Deputy Minister Holomisa. Prince Zolile Burns-Ncamashe, Deputy Minister for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs added that \u201cTraditional Leaders remain the custodians of culture, customs and discipline in many parts of the African continent. The battle against this pandemic needs a collective approach which foster inter-governmental organisations, and public-private sector partnerships.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Chairperson<\/p>\n

Chairperson of South African National House of Traditional and Khoi-San Leaders, Kgosi Thabo Seatlholo said the problem of drugs and substance abuse is not only mainly experienced in cities as they were historically. \u201cYoung people in traditional communities are falling prey to drug addiction and these places a burden on rural communities. We need to join hands together to eradicate the problem of drug abuse,\u201d concluded Kgosi Seatlholo<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The African Union (AU) has started integrating traditional leaders in drug dependency prevention, treatment and care to widen the reach of community interventions to address the growing burden of substance use and related mental health disorders on the continent. These<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1680,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9128"}],"collection":[{"href":"\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1680"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9128"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9128\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9132,"href":"\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9128\/revisions\/9132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}