CAIRO, 3 April 2019: Egypt will inaugurate five new drug addiction treatment centers this year 2019, thus raising the total number of centers to 27, Social Solidarity Minister Ghada Wali, who is also the board chairperson of the Fund For Drug Control and Treatment of Addiction, said on Tuesday, April 2.
The new centers will be in the Upper Egypt cities of Menya and Sohag in addition to Matrouh, Fayyoum and Alexandria, she added during the opening of a two-day workshop on drug addiction problems, State News Agency MENA stated.
A number of judges and public prosecution members are attending the two-day workshops, she said, noting that the workshop focuses on the judicial, social and psychological perspectives of the drug addiction problem.
She added that a cooperation protocol will be inked between the Fund For Drug Control and Treatment of Addiction and the Forensic Medicine Authority on the fringe of the workshop.
Drug addiction problem is as important as fighting terrorism as it hampers development and threatens social peace in view of being one of the main reasons behind crimes and accidents, she said, referring to the recent train accident at Cairo's main railway station in which scores of Egyptians were killed
The social solidarity minister added the fund managed to reduce the rate of drug consumption among professional drivers from 24 percent in 2015 to 12 percent in 2019.
Wed, Apr. 3, 2019
