Mandaue’s drug rehab center gives drug addicts chance to get free treatment

DRUG dependents in Mandaue City can now have a place to undergo free medical treatment for their addiction with the opening of the P2 million drug rehabilitation facility beside the Mandaue City Hospital.

Dr. Edna Seno, Mandaue City health officer, said in an interview on Monday that the new recovery clinic would start addressing the medical needs of drug addicts starting next month.

Treatment will include individual, group and family counseling which will be handled by psychiatrists and psychologists.

Seno said they are tapping the barangays in Mandaue City to determine those identified as drug addicts.

If they volunteered, she said, they could avail of the free treatment as an outpatient.

The four-month rehabilitation program will cover at least three to four sessions a week for the patients depending on the case of those influenced with the illegal drug substance.

Seno also said that those, who completed the rehabilitation program, would also be given

“Wala silay mabayad. They only have to give us their time (They don’t have to pay anything. All they have to do to avail of the program is give us their time),” said Seno.

Seno said the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) would also provide skills’ training and livelihood programs to drug dependents after they would have completed the program.

The around 80-square meter facility is situated just beside the Mandaue City Hospital. The city is a pilot area to have the recovery clinic in the Visayas.

It was funded by the Department of Health (DOH) under their Dangerous Drug Abuse Prevention and Treatment Program.