Waly: Addiction cases can be eradicated within 2 years

CAIRO – 28 September 2017: Minister of Social Solidarity Ghada Waly declared Thursday, that the ministry could completely eradicate addiction cases in al Marg Penal Institution within two years.

This statement came in a workshop entitled, “HIV and AIDS Prevention, Treatment, Care and Support in Prisons: Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia,” which was organized in collaboration with the United Nations Office of Drug and Crimes (UNODC).

According to the estimates of the United Nation program on AIDS, the total number of drug injection cases amounts to 93,000 persons.

The workshop has been attended by a representative from UNODC, the WHO, as well as the Ministry of Health and Population besides the Assistant Minister of Interior for Prison Services Mostafa Shehata.

The Ministry heeds confronting drug addiction with its dangerous pathogens such as HIV and AIDS, which are transmitted through unsterilized syringes, in Egyptian society especially in prisons, according to Waly’s speech.

Waly’s speech was delivered on her behalf by the Assistant to the Minister of Social Solidarity and the Director of the Fund of Prevention and Treatment of Addiction and Drug Abuse Amr Osman.

A program for raising awareness on drug addiction, AIDS and HIV will be implemented within the training programs of the Anti-Addiction Fund.

Egypt is one of the countries with low HIV and AIDS infection rates, Osman added.
Egypt exerts efforts to confront drug addiction by providing treatment services, establishing treatment centers in 12 governorates and organizing cultural symposia in prisons for raising awareness among prisoners about health implications of these diseases.