{"id":83813,"date":"2018-08-15T16:04:33","date_gmt":"2018-08-15T14:04:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mobserver.co.za\/?p=83813"},"modified":"2018-08-20T12:48:13","modified_gmt":"2018-08-20T10:48:13","slug":"war-substance-abuse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/news-headlines\/2018\/08\/15\/war-substance-abuse\/","title":{"rendered":"The war on substance abuse"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Almost 20% of South Africans \u2013 1 out of every 5 adults \u2013 abuse mind-altering substances, with alcohol, pain-killers (codeine) and dagga being the worst offenders, and rising figures of illicit drug use suggest the country is losing the war on drugs.<\/p>\n<p>The annual cost to the country of alcohol abuse alone, in terms of absenteeism, lost productivity, health and welfare costs and alcohol-related crime is estimated at up to 10% of <a href=\"https:\/\/countryeconomy.com\/gdp\/south-africa\" target=\"_blank\">Gross Domestic Product (GDP)<\/a>, or as much as R37.9 billion annually, according to a 2014 study in the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.samj.org.za\/index.php\/samj\" target=\"_blank\">South African Medical Journal (SAMJ)<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>While South Africa has progressive legislation on preventing and treating drug and alcohol dependency, and a comprehensive national Drug Master Plan aligned to the latest strategies endorsed by the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.who.int\/countries\/zaf\/en\/\" target=\"_blank\">World Health Organisation (WHO)<\/a>, implementation is hampered by a lack of funding and \u201cold ideas of treatment\u201d, says <a href=\"https:\/\/www.medpages.co.za\/sf\/index.php?page=person&amp;personcode=4945\" target=\"_blank\">Dr Eugene Allers<\/a>, a member of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sasop.co.za\/\" target=\"_blank\">South African Society of Psychiatrists (SASOP)<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">New: Working Paper No4: <br \/>&#39;South Africa\u2019s National Drug Master Plan: Influenced &amp; Ignored&#39;<br \/>Shaun <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/shaunshelly?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@shaunshelly<\/a> &amp; Simon Howell<br \/>Read: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/0KbPq8o9ok\">https:\/\/t.co\/0KbPq8o9ok<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/sadp?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#sadp<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/southafrica?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#southafrica<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/drugs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#drugs<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/drugpolicy?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#drugpolicy<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/TBf6dohWxO\">pic.twitter.com\/TBf6dohWxO<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Global Drug Policy Observatory (@Gdpo_Swan) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Gdpo_Swan\/status\/1025428845787336705?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 3, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>He said the out-moded approach to the treatment of substance abuse, focused on social rehabilitation and encouragement of abstinence and behaviour change, had been replaced by the view that addiction is a medical condition requiring multi-disciplinary interventions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSobriety is no longer considered the only measure of success, rather the ability of the patient to be free of illicit drugs, and functional,\u201d Allers said.<br \/>\nSubstance abuse and mental illness are closely related, he said, with one often leading to the other.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Also read:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/mobserver.co.za\/78572\/video-drugs-makes-woman-dance\/\" target=\"_blank\">VIDEO: Drugs make woman dance<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe treatment of these disorders needs a multi-professional team approach of medical interventions, psychiatric treatment, psychological therapy, social interventions and other professional assistance.<br \/>\n\u201cAccompanying psychiatric disorders need to be treated along with the substance abuse issue to ensure a good outcome. Although access to treatment has improved over the past few years, funding for the treatment is still highly problematic, especially for medically-assisted treatment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Also read: <a href=\"https:\/\/mobserver.co.za\/76257\/sex-drugs-booze-school-hillside-investigation-ongoing\/\" target=\"_blank\">Sex, drugs and booze at school &#8211; Hillside investigation ongoing<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Allers says government\u2019s latest legislation on prevention and treatment of drug and alcohol abuse, together with the National Drug Master Plan, is comprehensive and progressive, crossing boundaries of government departments and professional disciplines to address the issue from multiple perspectives \u2013 social, medical, criminal and psychological.<\/p>\n<p>However, without sufficient funding from both the state and private healthcare providers and the acceptance of a medical approach to treatment, they lack the power to significantly address substance abuse in South Africa.<\/p>\n<p>A lack of recent and comprehensive data on the extent and costs of alcohol and substance abuse in South Africa is a further barrier to developing scientific approaches to address the problem and to monitoring progress.<\/p>\n<p>The most-often cited figures, such as that 1 in 5 adults abuse drugs and alcohol, emanate from a 2009 study published in the SAMJ, which in turn was based on research done in 2002-2004, and there has been little in the way of similarly comprehensive studies since then.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Other News:<\/h3>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/mobserver.co.za\/83790\/suspects-might-linked-seven-robberies\/\" target=\"_blank\">Suspects might be linked to seven other robberies<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/mobserver.co.za\/83806\/gtr2018-map-layout\/\" target=\"_blank\">GTR2018 map layout<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"twenty_seventeen_advert_slider\"><strong><a 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target=\"_blank\">Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Subscribe to our\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCs1fP1J8BpepNwIfk2qeVkQ\" target=\"_blank\">YouTube channel<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/mobserver.co.za\/newsletter-signup\/\" target=\"_blank\">Click on the link<\/a>\u00a0to subscribe to our bi-weekly newsletter via email.<\/p>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<h3>Have a news tip?<\/h3>\n<p>Contact our news room on our 24 hr standby number\u00a0072 248 3855, or send a mail to our editor\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:tobie@mobserver.co.za\" target=\"_blank\">tobie@mobserver.co.za<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Abuse of alcohol and drugs causes a multi-billion rand dent in the South African economy every year, but the remedy is stymied by insufficient funding and unwillingness to accept the latest global thinking on the treatment of addiction as a medical condition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8164,"featured_media":69469,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"hasGravity":false,"cxt_article_byline":"Middelburg Observer","cxt_disable_google_ads":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,2],"tags":[12979,12983,6631,12977,12978,12982,12980,12981,4295],"class_list":["post-83813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","category-news-headlines","tag-annual-cost-of-r37-9-bil-to-substance-abuse","tag-dr-eugene-allers-of-sasop","tag-gdp","tag-samj","tag-sasop","tag-south-african-medical-journal","tag-substance-abuse","tag-the-war-on-substance-abuse","tag-who"],"category_labels":{"Category":"News","SubCategory":"Local news"},"tag_labels":["annual cost of R37.9 Bil to substance abuse","Dr Eugene Allers of SASOP","gdp","SAMJ","SASOP","South African Medical Journal","substance abuse","The war on substance 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