Zim National Drug Master Plan: A Game Changer to Zim Drug Scourge

We share with you the Zimbabwe Civil Liberties and Drug Network’s take on the Zimbabwe National Drug Master Plan. The timing of their latest newsletter couldn’t have been more timely given how the abuse of drugs has become a shadow pandemic in recent times. Read on to get informed.

Illicit drug use is prevalent across the globe and Zimbabwe is not spared from this scourge that has of late turned out to be a growing public health and security problem in the country. Lately, there has been an increase in trafficking of hordes of drugs and this is strongly linked to interpersonal violence, unintentional injuries, road traffic accidents, multiple medical complications as well as psychological and mental health complications.

Alcohol and substance use are becoming a heavy burden to families, communities, the health and security systems as well as the national economy. It is against this background that the Zimbabwe Civil Liberties and Drug Network (ZCLDN) partnered the Mental Health Services Department in the Ministry of Health and child care and other organisations to come up with the Zimbabwe National Drug Master Plan (ZNDMP) (2020-2025), which offers both an integrated and comprehensive approach that addresses a range of drug related issues. Technical support came from various government departments and the private sector, while Partnership to Inspire, Transform and Connect the HIV response (PItcH), AIDS FONDS, AIDS Rights Alliance for Southern Africa and Frontline AIDS, among others.

“The aim for coming up with the National Drug Master Plan was a way to solve and mitigate the challenges that are faced by drug use in Zimbabwe following the African Union Plan of Action 2021-2023,” said ZCLDN projects director Mr Wilson Box. “The plan of action emphasises the need for supply reduction, harm reduction, demand reduction, treatment as well as rehabilitation guidelines for people who use drugs and also community reintegration. “So the African Union Plan of Action 2021- 2023 was very important because it really gives a framework on how issues to do with drugs and substance are attendant to by member states.”

Mr Box said ZCLDN spearheaded the formulation of the Zimbabwe National Drug Master Plan. “Zimbabwe civil liberties and Drug Network together with other 14 line ministries in the government of Zimbabwe came together to craft the national drug master plan as well as the treatment and rehabilitation guidelines,” he said.

Read the full newsletter here (4MB PDF)

Source: ZCLDN