Addu City, Maldives – The Detoxification and Community Rehabilitation Center in Addu City on Saturday stated that the center has successfully executed Methodone Drug Therapy program.
This is the first time in history that Methodone Drug Therapy was used outside of the capital city Malé.
Speaking to Addulive on the occasion of the 17th anniversary since the opening of Addu Rehabilitation Center, Superintendent Sharafusaadhaath said that the center has successfully treated 9 clients during trials starting 4 April 2021, with 30 additional clients [in the program to date.
There are 90 people on the waitlist from the region including Addu and Huvadhoo. We cannot increase capacity since Methodone is a controlled drug and there are difficulties in sending the drug to [regional] centers.
Superintendent Sharafusaadhaath, Addu Detoxification and Community Rehabilitation Center
The program itself takes up to 1 year per client.
Superintendent Sharafusaadhaath added that the goal of the center is to rehabilitate and reintroduce patients of drug addiction into society.
We must remove the stigma around substance abuse users. We can recover a large segment of the Addu City population if we can provide treatment and adequate aftercare of substance abuse users.
Addu City has around 1,540 drug users between the ages of 12 to 65.
