Cairo, Egypt: The Minister of Social Solidarity received a delegation from the Iraqi Parliament to research joint cooperation and benefit from Egyptian experience in treating and rehabilitating of addiction patients, according to the update by the government.
“Al-Qabaj” shows the most important features of the Egyptian experience against drug abuse and its achievements during the past period, providing treatment and rehabilitation services to addiction patients free of charge within a treatment system without any kind of discrimination with confidentiality of data guarantee.
Nevin Al-Qabaj, the Minister of Social Solidarity and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Anti-Addiction and Treatment Fund stated the President’s approval of the national plan to reduce drug demand for the period from 2023 to 2027. Egypt has recently provided technical assistance in reducing the demand for drugs in a number of Arab countries.
Reportedly, the launch of awareness media campaigns with the participation of the most influential characters on the most vulnerable groups to drug abuse.
As per the official update, the Iraqi Parliament delegates the Minister of Social Solidarity the Parliament Shield in recognition of her pioneering role in supporting the building of institutional capacities of the stakeholders of the State of Iraq to combat drug abuse, based on the Egyptian experience in this field.
Nevin Al-Qabaj received a delegation from the Iraqi Parliament in order to benefit from the Fund’s experience in the field of treatment and rehabilitation of addiction patients; the delegation included Dr Adnan Burhan Al-Jaheishi, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Drugs and Psychological Effects and Deputy Arshad Rashad Fatallah, Chairman of the Front Iraqi Turkmen, Chairman of the Human Rights Committee, Dr Ali Al-Barir, Representative of the United Nations Office in Iraq and their accompanying delegation from the members of the Iraqi House of Representatives, in the presence of Ambassador Ahmed Nayef Al-Dilimi, Ambassador of Iraq in Cairo, Dr Amr Othman, Assistant Minister of Social Solidarity, Director of the Anti-Addiction Treatment and Abuse Fund and the leadership of the Ministry of Social Solidarity.
According to the statement shared by the government, the Minister of Social Solidarity welcomed the Iraqi Parliament delegation to the land of Egypt, the Cradle of History and the Forum of Civilizations and Cultures, and conveyed the greetings of the Egyptian government to the Iraqi delegation and emphasized the full support of the brotherly Iraqi side in its efforts to tackle the drug problem, which is focused on strengthening relations between Egypt and the State of Iraq in many different spheres.
The visit of the Iraqi parliament delegation comes in the context of cooperation between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the Republic of Iraq in combating the drug problem to establish productive, constructive and sustainable cooperation to embody all the good meaning of relations between the two countries. This visit also emphasizes the importance of sharing experiences to combat the rates of drug use and addiction among young people in the country. The Arab hope for the nation to rise with its physical burdens and lead its future. The joint cooperation between the two countries, in relation to the fight against use and addiction during the current year, has been highlighted by visiting an official delegation from the Anti-Addiction and Treatment Fund to the Ministry of Social Solidarity of the sister state of Iraq in the period from 4 to 6 March 2023, where the delegation met Iraqi Interior Minister, Minister of Health and Deputy Chairman of the National Security Council in Iraq, also met with the Iraqi National Committee on laying and drafting the Iraqi Strategy to tackle the drug problem and also met a number of members of Iraqi Parliament interested in strengthening national efforts to tackle this problem.
Accordingly, the minister of Social Solidarity and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Anti-Addiction Treatment and Abuse Fund stated that because of the Egyptian Government’s belief in the need to coordinate Arab efforts in the fight against drugs, the Ministry of Social Solidarity through the Arab Social Affairs Ministry, has put out the first Arab action plan to reduce the demand for drugs, which It was approved by member states and announced by the Secretary-General of the University of Arab States last March to form a guiding framework for Arab countries in the field of drawing confrontation policies in the light of international standards and Egypt provided technical assistance in the field of reducing the demand for drugs to a number of Arab countries during the recent times of which the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar cooperated. Egypt and Naif Arab University are preparing the first analytical study on the link between drug addiction rates and social distancing to security in Arab countries.
“Qabaj” reviewed the most important features of the Egyptian experience in reducing drug demand and its achievements achieved during the past period. In terms of building policies, strategies and legislation, many national plans in this regard have been prepared and on top of it, the National Plan to Reduce Drug Demand for the period from 2023 to 2027, which was implemented by the Anti-Fund Addiction to consulting with all national partners to draw a new path of work in the future, and I had the approval of President Abdul Fattah El-Sisi and will be honoured to launch his sovereignty to it soon.
As a package of national legislation has been laid out to boost confrontation efforts, the 2021 Law 73 on Early Detection, which is in view of which the ratio of consumption in the state’s administrative system has been reduced from 8% in 2019 to less than 1% currently, and on the preventive scale Egyptian experiment is based on scientific evidence Impact-measuring of the implementation of preventive programs that adopt life skills component as a mechanism to develop the capacities of young people and young people to combat the problem of drug addiction and substance abuse, and empower them to make positive decisions about their health and create risk resilience to protect them against crime, violence and drug use, this evidence is widely applied in institutions Education and youth through young voluntary cadres, where anti-drug problem educational tools were developed by including different education curriculums at the pre-university stage as an anti-awareness component against this problem, and also the creation of a university education diploma to prepare cadres specialized in the field of prevention, treatment of drug abuse and addiction.
“Al-Qabaj” has pointed out the launch of integrated media campaigns involving widespread participation of public figures and entities most influential on the most vulnerable groups of the problem, as well as communication with drama and filmmakers.
Egypt has prepared a moral commitment to media and a dramatic approach to the problem based on the results of the first regional observatory established by Egypt in this area and. The therapeutic level is based on the Egyptian experience that emphasizes the availability of treatment and rehabilitation services within a therapeutic system that is based on the voluntary offer of therapeutic services and easily accessed through the Anti-Addiction Fund hotline “16023” and also through social media platforms and services without any kind of discrimination with Ensure data confidentiality, and to emphasize that these treatment programs are based on a human rights approach and that individuals with substance abuse problems have the right to receive treatment, including voluntary rehabilitation, and have the right to access alternatives that support their healing journey and reintegrate them into society.
Through “30” treatment centres in “19” governorates, four new centres are being established this year; in addition to the participation of patients’ families and their families in the treatment process, the organization has also intended to implement therapeutic interventions to reduce the health, psychological and social consequences of drug use, including measures to limit the transmission of the hepatitis epidemic virus Virus C, HIV and other diseases related to drug abuse also require full recovery from the Egyptian experience to provide a variety of rehabilitation and community integration options, such as vocational training, economic empowerment and employment embodied in Egypt’s launch of a “New Start” initiative to empower recoverers economically and socially which means providing programs Training and funding opportunities for small and medium enterprises guarantee real opportunities for community integration.
On his part, the Iraqi Parliament delegation would like to thank Nevin Al-Qabaj, Minister of Social Solidarity and Chairman of the Board of the Fund for Combating Addiction and Treatment, for her support in how to benefit from the experience of the Ministry of Social Solidarity, the Combating and Treatment Addiction Fund in treating and rehabilitating addiction patients, and also in implementing awareness-raising activities to protect young people from drug abuse. Media campaigns by influential figures, similar to the campaign “You are stronger than drugs” launched by the fund with the voluntary participation of the international star Mohamed Salah, the striker of the national team and the English Liverpool club, were honoured at international concerts, as the delegation gifted the Minister of Social Solidarity the Iraqi Parliament Shield in recognition of her leading role in support in building the institutional capacity of stakeholders to combat drug abuse based on Egyptian experience in this field.
