KABUL: Mawlavi Abdul Wali Haqqani, Deputy Minister for Health Service Delivery at Afghanistan’s Ministry of Public Health, has stated that drug addiction is a global public health challenge and that Afghanistan has also been significantly affected by the phenomenon due to decades of conflict and instability.
Speaking at a conference on “Counter-Narcotics and Public Awareness,” Haqqani said that, under a decree issued by the leadership of the Islamic Emirate, the cultivation, trafficking, and trade of narcotics have been banned across the country. According to him, these activities have now been reduced to nearly zero.
“Extensive efforts have been undertaken to identify and treat individuals suffering from drug addiction. Thousands of drug-dependent individuals have received treatment, while public awareness programs have reached hundreds of thousands of people nationwide, over the past year,’ he said.
The deputy minister emphasized that the Ministry of Public Health is working to further expand awareness campaigns and standardize treatment centers for drug addiction in order to improve the quality of healthcare services.
Haqqani also stressed that combating narcotics is a shared responsibility of both the government and the public, adding that broad cooperation is essential to effectively address the challenge of drug addiction.