Shania Shayal Prasad 
This year, St. Giles Hospital has recorded a staggering 7,500 patients with a significant portion attributed to substance abuse.
Health Minister Dr Atonio Lalabalavu is stressing the need to be supportive towards substance-abuse patients who return to their communities from rehabilitation centers.
This year, St. Giles Hospital has recorded a staggering 7,500 patients with a significant portion attributed to substance abuse.
Dr Lalabalavu highlights that stigma and discrimination in communities continue to cause re-admission of patients.
“But the challenge is always how the community accepts them and looks after them. That has always been a challenge. So I am not sure about the data, but relapses do occur when they are shunned from their families and the communities and then they return. So it’s a vicious cycle of ongoing things.”
Dr Lalabalavu adds that while necessary treatment and facilities are available, curbing the issue of drugs and substance abuse needs the whole of society approach.
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