Sierra Leone’s Minister of Social Welfare, Melrose Karminty, has revealed that over 200 Kush survivors have successfully graduated from the PMTC Rehabilitation Center in Freetown, with many of them subsequently returning to school and university to further their education.
The minister led a government delegation comprising officials from health ministry and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency on an assessment tour at the proposed Southern Regional Substance and Drug Abuse (Kush) Survivors’ Rehabilitation Center located at the Gondama Military Barracks in Bo district.
The initiative to establish rehabilitation centers across Sierra Leone by the Ministry of Social Welfare is pillar four of the national task force on substance and drug abuse, following public health emergency declared by President Bio in April.
The would be Southern Regional rehabilitation center she said, will comprise a team of professionals including Social Workers, Mental health experts, Community Health Officers (CHOs), Military officials, home mothers/fathers. That will be entrusted with the vital role of providing psychosocial, medical, nutritional, hygiene, social, and security support to the survivors. Between sixteen and twenty five years old.
Speaking on the alarming rise in substance and drug abuse among the youth in Sierra Leone, Minister Karminty pointed out the severe mental and economic consequences of this trend on both the individuals and the nation as a whole. She therefore called upon Paramount Chiefs, community leaders, and families to actively support the rehabilitation centers by raising public awareness and advocating against any form of victimization of the survivors.
The rehabilitation process in the Southern region is set to kick off with the registration of survivors at the Ministry of Social Welfare Bo district office. While the full-scale operations of the center are scheduled to commence on 27th July, 2024, marking a significant step forward in addressing the pressing issue of substance and drug abuse in Sierra Leone.
