A report written by the Health Committee of the Shura Council (consultative Upper Parliamentary House) has set the alarm on the phenomenal rise of addiction among youth particularly during the past five years. According to its report, which the Shura Council discussed on Sunday, the illegal use of drugs has shot up in Egyptians aged above l5 by 6.4 per cent to reach 30 per cent of 16-year-olds and over. In what has been described as a catastrophic incidence, the report underlined the fact that addiction rate in Cairo has jumped to comprise seven per cent of the capital's population in the said period. Commenting on the report, MP Mohamed Sayed Ramadan referred to relevant statistics conducted by the Ministry of Health in collaboration with Cairo University, the largest government-run educational institution in Egypt. These say that around 60 per cent of university students across the country are addicts. In monetary terms, the latest figures in this connection indicate that addiction costs this country some LE l3 billion per annum. The security breakdown in the wake of the January Revolution has been blamed for thriving drug trafficking, especially across Egypt's borders, which lacked a tight security grip in the first few months following the toppling of the former regime. Highlighting efforts currently exerted by the security agency to contain the situation, Sameh el-Kilany Director of the Anti-addiction Operation Department explained that more than 2l,000 cases of drug trafficking have been detected since the beginning of this year. He pointed out that 384 million Tramadol pills were also seized and urged officials concerned to ban the sale of painkillers without medical prescription, as has been the case with Tramadol. According to the Shura Council's Health Committee report, rising addiction rates were found to be partially attributable to the spread of erroneous concepts among young people. It said that 30.6 per cent of addicts believe that drugs increase physical abilities, whereas 36.6 percent associate drugs with getting over adversities while 34.8 percent do drugs to overcome depression. In its report, the Health Committee criticised the incorporation of addiction treatment departments in psychiatric and mental hospitals, a measure which it said has so far yielded poor results. The committee has thus drawn the attention to the fact that mental and psychiatric diseases in this country are still perceived as a disgrace unlike the mainstream societal outlook to physical illness. The report has therefore recommended the opening of special anti-addiction clinics outside these hospitals to encourage addicts to seek rehabilitation.
