ANKAFUL HOSPITAL DECLARES WAR ON DRUG ABUSE (PAGE 46, OCT 18, 2010)

The Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital in the Central Region has instituted an annual regional educational programme to declare war on drugs to save young people from addiction.
The programme, which has come as a result of the rate at which young people are being admitted at the hospital for drug use, takes the form of symposia and cultural performances for students in various senior high schools.
The medical team has already been to Cape Coast and Takoradi and plans to cover the Ashanti and northern sectors of the country soon.
More than 500 students from senior high schools in Tema, Nungua and Ashaiman took part in the Tema programme.
A clinical psychologist at the Ankaful Hospital, Dr Kojo Sagoe, expressed concern over the high rate of youth indulgence in cocaine, marijuana and alcohol.
He said hospital records showed that people between 13 and 35 abused drugs, while those in the range of 60 also indulged in drugs and alcohol.
Dr Sagoe said the situation spelt doom for the next generation and, therefore, called for serious efforts to reverse the trend.
Speaking on the theme: “The drug epidemic facing our youth”, he said the drug epidemic was a ticking time bomb in the heart of civilisation, adding, “We need to act fast or we lose our future generation.”
He said many people started abusing drugs because of the lack of information on their harmful effects and, therefore, experimented with them.
He advised parents to spend more time with their children and endeavour to make them their priority.
He said some effects of drug addiction included low intelligence quotient, suicidal tendencies, isolation, withdrawal and the tendency to commit crime.
Dr Sagoe suggested the inclusion of education on drugs and their effects in the school curriculum to sensitise the youth to abstain from their use .
A Registered Mental Nurse at the Ankaful Hospital, Ms Diana Ahiabor, said people abusung drugs were living dangerously because the drugs affected them morally and spiritually.
She explained that the programme was to create awareness among the youth to save them from falling into the trap of abusing drugs.
Ms Ahiabor tasked various organisations and churches to collaborate with state institutions in the fight against drug abuse to save the youth who were the future managers of the nation.