13 per cent of drug abuse victims in India below 20 years, says UN official

Around 13 percent of the those involved in drug and substance abuse in India are below 20 years of age which calls for stepping up community intervention and preventive mechanisms targeting adolescents an UN official said here on ThursdayChildren face increased risk of drugs and alcohol abuse due to their poor mental and physical health resulting from violence exploitation and sexual abuse against them Billy Batware Programme Officer of United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime UNODC said at the International Forum on Children MatterRight to a DrugFree ChildhoodHe was speaking on Drugs and Transnational Crime in a Childs World and Role of Civil Society at the threeday international meet organised by Fourth Wave Foundation in partnership with UNODC and World Federation Against Drugs WFADNine out of 10 people with drug addiction begin using substances before they turn 18 In its 202125 strategy UNODC has defined harnessing the transformative power of youth and children as one of its three crosscutting commitmentsChild trafficking child labour and exploitation by criminals often result in poor mental and physical health of children leading to high risk of drugs and alcohol abuse Involvement of children in crime is mostly due to socioeconomic hardship and the lack of opportunities he notedAlso Read Punjab Heroin poppy husk worth Rs 800 crore destroyed in AmritsarCC Joseph Director Fourth Wave FoundationIndia said there is a steep increase in the use of drugs among children and a drastic increase in crime rates relating to drugs in KeralaLack of trained public healthcare officials to work with children child treatment and child care protocols is a grave issue in the state he saidHe said the Project VENDA being carried out by FWF in Kerala addresses at scale the need for capacity building to manage the cycle of care and treatmentThis programme has been following a multipronged approach of prevention treatment recovery and drug demand reduction besides health education at an early age through schoolcentric interventionsIt is designed and executed with full community participation he addedIn a Panel discussion on Global Drug Policy Advocacy Efforts Focused on Children Kavita Ratna Director of Advocacy and Fundraising The Concerned for Working ChildrenIndia said substance abuse affects children both as users and as victimsRatna said children are also entitled to state protection and it is our responsibility to ensure that they live and grow in a substance abusefree communityPointing out that every year around 40000 people die in Sri Lanka due to alcohol tobacco and drug use Shakya Nanayakkara Chairman National Dangerous Drugs Control Board of Sri Lanka NDDCB said prevention education will be effective in our efforts to create a drugfree childhoodCommunity action along with social change will make a tremendous impact in the Asia region he saidSumnima Tuladhar Executive Director Child Workers in Nepal Concerned Centre CWINNepal noted that children who use drugs and live in less privileged situations face stigmatization torture and sexual exploitationShe said CWINNepal is actively engaged with children and young people to facilitate their participation in drug policy advocacy and highlighted the key role of child clubs in the prevention workJohnson J Edayaranmula Director Alcohol and Drug Information Centre ADICIndia who moderated the session said the children have to be groomed perfectly not for tomorrow but for todayThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever