Union Minister of Social Justice & Empowerment, Dr. Virendra Kumar will virtually inaugurate 41 Addiction Treatment Facilities (ATFs) on 8^th February, 2024  at 11.00 AM at DAIC, New Delhi. Ministers of State for Social Justice & Empowerment will also be present on this occasion.

To curb the menace of drug demand, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE), Government of India has been implementing National Action Plan for Drug Demand Reduction (NAPDDR), under which financial assistance is provided to State Governments/ Union Territory (UT) Administrations for Preventive Education and Awareness Generation, Capacity Building, Skill development, vocational training and livelihood support of ex-drug addicts, Programmes for Drug Demand Reduction by States/UTs etc. and NGOs/VOs for running and maintenance of Integrated Rehabilitation Centres for Addicts (lRCAs), Community based peer Led lntervention (CPLI) for early Drug Use Prevention among Adolescents and Outreach and Drop In Centres (ODIC) Addiction treatment facilities (ATFs) in Government Hospitals and District De-addiction Centres (DDACs) in the identified gap districts.

Further the Ministry has initiated ambitious Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan (NMBA) currently operational in all the districts of the country with an aim to create awareness about ill effects of substance abuse among the youth, with special focus on higher education institutes, university campuses, schools and reaching out into the community and garnering community involvement and ownership of the Abhiyaan.

A special initiative under the NMBA is establishing Addiction Treatment Facilities (ATFs) in the Government hospitals. MoSJE has launched the Addiction Treatment Facility (ATF) program and the same is being coordinated nationally by the National Drug Dependence Treatment  Centre (NDDTC), AIIMS, New Delhi. The MoSJE has identified 125 districts in the country for establishing ATFs. The programm is being scaled-up and the ministry is consulting various state governments and district administrations for identifying hospitals for establishing ATFs.

Earlier, 25 ATFs were dedicated to the Nation in a ceremony held at Dr. Ambedkar International Centre, New Delhi on 9th February 2023. Union Minister of Social Justice & Empowerment, Dr. Virendra Kumar dedicated these 25 ATFs to the Nation in the august presence of Minister of State for Home, Shri Nityanand Rai and Minister of State for Social Justice & Empowerment, Shri A. Narayanaswamy.

Achievements of NMBA are as under:

• Till now, through the various activities undertaken on-ground, 10.73+ crore people have been sensitized on substance use including 3.39+ Crore Youth and 2.27+ Crore Women.
• Participation of 3.29+ Lakh educational institutions has ensured that the message of the Abhiyaan reaches children and youth of the country.
• A strong force of 8,000+ Master Volunteers (MVs) have been identified and trained.
• Awareness through official Social Media accounts of the Abhiyaan on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram.
• NMBA Mobile Application developed to gather and collect the data of NMBA activities and represent on the NMBA Dashboard at district, state and national level.
• NMBA Website (http://nmba.dosje.gov.in) provides detailed information and insights to the user/viewer about the Abhiyaan, an online discussion forum, NMBA dashboard, e-pledge.
• A National Online Pledge to be Drug Free had 1.67+ Crore students from 99,595 educational institution pledging to be drug free.
• Events like 'Nashe se Azaadi- A National Youth and Students Interaction Programme', ‘Naya Bharat, Nasha Mukt Bharat’, ‘NMBA Interaction with NCC’ are regularly organized to engage and connect with youth and other stakeholders.
• MoUs have been with Six Spiritual/Social Service organizations like The Art of Living, Brahma Kumaris, Sant Nirankari Mission, All World Gayatri Parivar, ISKCON and Shri Ram Chandra Mission to support to NMBA and conduct mass awareness activities.

Substance use disorder is an issue, which is adversely affecting the social fabric of the country. Dependence to any substance not only affects the individual’s health but also disrupts their families and the whole society. Regular consumption of various psychoactive substances leads to dependence of the individual. Some substance compounds may lead to neuro-psychiatric disorders, cardiovascular diseases, as well as accidents, suicides and violence. Therefore, substance use and dependence needs to be viewed as a psycho-social-medical problem.

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MG/MS/VL