President Mohamed Nasheed has today opened the Villimalé Detox Centre.
In his third radio address, President Nasheed had said that successfully rehabilitating drug addicts required detoxification and therefore the government attached a high priority to opening a detoxification centre.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Vice President Dr Mohamed Waheed said today was the beginning of an important stage in the government’s fight against drugs. He also stated that prevention of drug abuse and drug trafficking was one of the key pledges of the government.
Vice President noted that President Nasheed took a keen interest in the work to set up the detoxification centre. He further said that the centre would be the first among many such centres that the government planned to set up across the country.
Stressing that detoxification was only the initiation into treatment and not a complete treatment for addiction, Vice President said the goal of detoxification was to rid the body of toxins accumulated by drug use.
He also said that drug rehabilitation was a long process which can be overcome by virtue of time and patience and added that drug users were vulnerable to much greater harm.
Vice President also said that the government planned to expand rehabilitation treatments available in the Maldives and that the Ministry of Health and Family has undertaken this endeavour.
After opening the Villimalé Detox Centre, the President and the Vice President toured the centre.
