The Government has this week put in place an Inter-Ministerial Committee on Substance Abuse to address drug abuse challenges in Zimbabwe.
Publicity Minister Monica Mutsvangwa, who revealed this, gave reference to the ZimVAC Assessment which highlights the problem of drug and substance abuse among other challenges faced in the Zimbabwean communities.
Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare will chair the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Substance Abuse.
Research conducted by the Health and Empowerment Trust, an NGO, shows that 55% of Zimbabwe’s youths have been to mental health institutions owing to drug misuse.
Research also shows that a spike in drug abuse coincided with the COVID-19 lockdown.
Experts say harsh economic conditions prevailing in Zimbabwe have driven youths, who are trying to escape the realities of life, into drugs.
Unemployed youths are engaging in drugs with nothing to do.
Some attribute the rise in substance abuse to the prolonged closure of schools when young people, with nothing to do, turned into drugs. A report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) entitled “Mental health among young people in the African Region.” shows that Zimbabwe has the highest of 15 to 19 (school-going age) who engage in heavy episodic drinking in Africa.
Last year the Government held Operation Clean Up Harare Ghetto in an effort to address rampant abuse among the youths in Zimbabwe, with police arresting over 200 traders in illegal substances.
Authorities have also produced the Zimbabwe National Drug Master Plan (ZNDMP 2020 to 2025) and Treatment and Rehabilitation Guidelines of Alcohol and Substance Use Disorder of Zimbabwe (TRGASUD ZIM) to deal with the challenge.
Mutsvangwa said, “Government has also set up 5 Centres for the rehabilitation of youths affected by substance abuse, with a total of 600 substance abusers having gone through the centres.”
“To address employment challenges, Government is implementing various job creation initiatives, including the provision of skills and entrepreneurship training for income generation projects by Vocational Training Centres and through Integrated Skills Outreach Programmes (ISOPs).”
