Four de-addiction centres in state soon

KOCHI: The Health Department will soon launch de-addiction centres in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Palakkad and Wayanad. The centres, to be set up at a cost of `1 crore, will be part of the respective district general hospitals. The Wayanad centre will be opened as soon as the building construction is completed,  while the other three centres will be launched next month. “The de-addiction centres will have a 12-bedded ward. They will provide psychiatric treatment and essential medication to the patients. “The drugs for the de-addiction have also been procured at some centres. Recreation facilities, including those for the staff will also be set up,” said Additional Director of Health Service (Planning) Dr Prabha Chandran Nair.  The psychiatrists and other medical staff members at the district hospitals will be deployed at the de-addiction centres. The centres will focus on alcoholic abuse but treatment for other drug addictions will also be made available. “Next year, four more centres will be developed with another outlay of `1 crore. In three years’ time it will be extended to all 14 districts,” the doctor said.In a similar programme, a 40-bedded de-addiction ward will be set up at the Mental Health Centre in Thiruvananthapuram. The centrally-sponsored programme will be in a two-storey building.