Former Acting Medical Superintendent of the St Giles Hospital, Dr Odille Chang says there is an increase of mental illness resulting from the drug use and abuse in Fiji.
This is following the statistics by the hospital revealing that 103 patients were admitted in January this year due to drugs and substance abuse which is a rise from 20 to 30 patients per month in the previous years.
Dr Chang says this is a rise of 400 percent and it does not include those treated as outpatients.
Dr Chang further says according to the UNDP, Fiji recorded 415 new cases of HIV in 2023 compared to 97 in New Zealand, while there were 245 cases in 2022, and 151 in 2021.
She says this shows new cases of HIV were doubling every year.
She adds these are alarming statistics and one would only imagine where Fiji, and indeed the Pacific, would be in the next few years if these statistics were to be a measure of things to come in the foreseeable future.
Dr Chang says the negative impacts of drug and substance abuse, traversing all segments of society, particularly children and youth, are real, and one that calls for urgent attention from all.
She says people often overlook the relationship between persecuted drugs and culturally accepted drugs such as kava, tobacco and alcohol.
She adds for a child, it start with a roll of cigarette, a bowl of kava, or a glass of alcohol and these are gateways to hard drugs.
The issues of rising poverty and increasing crime cannot be dissociated wholly from the ever-rising incidences of drug abuse, including peddling and should be considered holistically.
Dr Chang adds this requires collective efforts of all sections of the community including the NGO’s, civil society and religious organisations.
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