The Blue Cross Ghana, a Christian NGO on Friday organised a Self Help Community Durbar to sensitise students, youth and adults against the intake of alcohol and the abuse of other substances like Marijuana at the Weija-Gbawe Municipal Assembly in Accra.
Dubbed:” Self Help Discovery Day: Giving Hope to alcoholics and drug addicts,” the programme sought to provide help to youth and adults who were drug addicts to mitigate the challenge of substance abuse while referring them to the necessary authorities when the need arises for their recovery.
Speaking at the Durbar that about five per cent Ghanaians, per research abused drugs a, the General Secretary of Blue Cross Ghana, Reverend Patrick Adjei Acheampong noted nd the act, he said had dire consequences on the economy of country.
He stated that his outfit rolled out the School Awareness Project as an innovative strategy targeted at the youthful population in the country, to advance the inclusivity of educational institutions in the strategic plan for mitigating substance misuse and further develop the youth as ambassadors in disseminating the dangers of drug abuse.
Rev. Acheampong expressed an urgent need to have self-help groups within the society to assist adults to desist from alcohol and smoking, and called on the government not to sit aloof, but support NGOs like his outfit with funding to reduce substance and illegal drug intake in the country.
“If the government sits aloof it will be disastrous as the Word Drug Report, 2021 shows that, globally, the number of people using drugs is projected to increase 11 per cent by 2030 and the number of drug users in Africa is projected to rise in the next decade by as much as 40 per cent. Government should therefore have subversion to organisations fighting against drug abuse to mitigate its impact on Ghanaians,” he added.
Rev. Acheampong appealed to youth not to stigmatise drug addicts but help educate such people on the harmful effects of alcohol, tobacco, cigarette and other substances to help develop the country in the right direction.
Mr Patrick Agyapong, the Drug Prevention Advocator at the Education Department of the Narcotics Control Commission called on chiefs to liaise with various municipal assemblies to enact a bye-law that would refrain the public from building drinking bars closer to schools.
He said the act had been a contributing factor of youth in substance abuse.
On her part, the Senior Mental Health Nurse at Oblogo Health Centre, Ms Esther Akua Aboagye, called on parents to stop feeding their six months baby with feeding bottle and also warned them against putting teeth into the mouth of children who suck and lick their fingers.
Meanwhile, Nii Boye Kojo II, Gbawe Mantse has promised his outfit’s preparedness to collaborate with the necessary authorities and also roll out safety measures that would refrain youth especially pupils from engaging in drug abuse.
BY JOYCELINE NATALLY CUDJOE
