Rush of deaddiction patients, hosp draws circles of safety

Shariq Majeed | Apr 14, 2020, 04:54 IST

Ludhiana: Ever since the lockdown, there has been a spurt in the number of persons visiting the civil hospital in Khanna to get de-addiction medicines. The unprecedented rush has made the worried authorities paint circles for them to stand in to ensure social distancing.
The curfew has resulted in many addicts desiring to kick the habit. “Earlier, five to 10 addicts would come daily for de-addiction medicines at our outpatient opioid assisted treatment (OOAT) centre, but now we get around 70 such cases. To ensure that social distancing is maintained, we have marked circles from outside the centre to the reception. The patients are asked to queue up by standing in these,” said Dr Rajinder Gulati, senior medical officer at Khanna civil hospital.
“We had never seen such a rush for de-addiction. We give them the government supplied buprenorphine and naloxone medicines. We used to give medicines to addicts daily, but now we give for 10 days or two weeks. We have adequate stock. Though there are multiple factors for rise in de-addiction patients, lack of drug supply is the major reason motivating them to quit.”
Health department officials said spurt in addicts thronging OOAT centres across the state could also be attributed to the fact that not many private de-addiction centres were working these days. They added that break in supply chain of drugs, lack of physical meetings with peer group members, constant watch of family were main factors building pressure on addicts, especially with mild and moderate addiction, to get rid of the problem and live a healthy life.
Social activists said marking circles was a good move. “It is very important to maintain social distancing and if the authorities have devised such a strategy, it should be appreciated. I hope they are enforcing it well,” said Kulwinder Singh, an activist from Khanna.