St Giles Hospital

The admission for the use of illicit drugs has shifted downward to the younger generation at Saint Giles Psychiatric Hospital, with the age group between 18 and 35.

This was revealed by the hospital’s Senior Mental Health Nurse, Loata Vosaniyavu during an evangelism programme at Drekena Village in Rewa.

Vosaniyavu says a 14-year-old boy was recently admitted for abuse of illicit drugs.

“In previous years, we would discuss issues of marijuana. Nowadays, we have to deal with cases of methamphetamine. We have even dealt with issues of ketamine.”

Vosaniyavu says they expect the number of admissions to increase in future, due to the prevalence of illicit drug use among youth.

Earlier this year, the hospital’s Medical Superintendent Doctor Balram Pandit revealed that previously they used to admit 20 to 30 patients per month, but the number of admission has significantly increased to 103 patients alone for January.