Dutch help in fight against drugs

Drawing up a national report on the drug situation in Malta is one of the goals of the EU Twinning Light Project, which is due to start next month to run until around September.

The twinning project, with a budget of €130,000, has been established between a company from the Netherlands and the Maltese National Commission on the Abuse of Drugs, Alcohol and Other Dependencies.

The aim is to build expertise in the fight against drugs, strengthening the commission so that it can fulfil its commitments and participate actively within the European Monitoring Centre on Drugs and Drug Addiction.

The commission, made up of a multi-disciplinary forum of experts, is responsible for evaluating the status of drug-related services provided by both the state and voluntary agencies.

Parliamentary Secretary Dolores Cristina made the announcement yesterday when she visited Sedqa's family and psychology team, which is run from a home in Lija.

Last year, this centre received 300 referrals for alcohol problems, 227 of these being new cases.

Mrs Cristina visited another five rehabilitation and community service centres run by Sedqa so as to meet the staff and clients and better understand the pressing issues they faced.

"It is our priority to make the best use of the resources to ensure we provide appropriate services for clients. I also have to thank Sedqa for their sterling work throughout the years," she said.

Mrs Cristina, who was met by acting chief executive officer Frank Mifsud, said it was imperative that the services and structures remained flexible to provide coordinated and timely interventions.

She made a heartfelt appeal to people dabbling in drugs, alcohol or gambling and who needed help to approach Sedqa.

Mr Mifsud said the young people who died of a drug overdose since the beginning of this year had never used Sedqa's services.

"There are numerous people out there who are abusing drugs and alcohol and we are appealing to them to come forward - we will not report them to the police and we adhere to a confidentiality policy," Mr Mifsud said.

Though fear was one of the reasons that people did not come forward, Mr Mifsud said there was also the problem of denial, where people refused to accept they had a problem.

Mrs Cristina also visited Sedqa's head office, the Substance Misuse Outpatient Unit (Detox), the Substance Misuse In-patient Unit (Dar l-Impenn), Dar Zerniq and Komunità Santa Marija.