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BY NOBUHLE MAPLANKA The Zimbabwe Civil Liberties and Drug Network (ZCLDN) on Tuesday engaged primary health workers as part of the organisation’s capacity building programme aimed at drug use harm reduction. ZCLDN is an organisation that is committed to advocating for the rights and welfare of people who use and inject drugs through harm reduction, drug policy reform and prevention. One key component of ZCLDN’s programming is the engagement of key stakeholders in drug use, hence the convening of the meeting with primary health workers drawn from the Ministry of Health and Child Care’s Mental Health Services department. The workshop, which was held under the theme Health Personnel Capacity Strengthening on Illicit Drug Use Harm Reduction: Paving way for drug user friendly health service delivery, was meant to increase healthcare providers’ knowledge of alcohol and drugs that are commonly used. It also discussed the contexts in which drug or alcohol use occurs. ZCLDN projects executive director Wilson Box urged participants to promote community involvement in harm reduction initiatives through building rapport and trust within the community. Box said primary health workers needed to establish relationships within the community, raise awareness about prevention, care and social services for HIV and Aids, sexually-transmitted infections, drug use addictions and homelessness. “Harm reduction involves taking action through policy and programming to reduce the harmful effects of behaviour,” he said. - Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation - Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals - Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields - Councils defy govt fire tender directive Keep Reading “It involves a range of non-judgmental approaches and strategies aimed at providing and enhancing the knowledge, skills, resources and supports for individuals, their families and communities to make informed decisions to be safer and healthier.” A representative from the provincial medical director’s office Sister Zephaniah said they appreciated the work that ZCLDN was doing, especially in capacitating mental health workers. “From last year, this is now the third training session that they have done,” she said. “We look forward in working with them since Harare now has a mental health directorate headed by Dr Hove.” Mental Health Services department deputy director Patience Mavunganidze, hailed ZCLDN, Health and Child Care ministry as well as the Interministerial Drug Committee for coming up with the Zimbabwe National Drug Master Plan (ZNDMP) (2020-2025). The ZNDMP offers an integrated and comprehensive approach that addresses a range of drug related issues. Mavunganidze said there was need to widen intervention programmes for drug use in the country, arguing that there was lack of political will in supporting drug users in recovery and quitting. Meanwhile, ZCLDN programmes officer Knowledge Mupembe said drug and substance use in Zimbabwe’s higher and tertiary institutions was a cause for concern. Mupembe made these remarks while making a presentation at a Harare City Council student induction workshop on Monday. “There is rampant drug and substance use in higher and tertiary institutions as well as at work places,” Mupembe said. He said in Zimbabwe adolescents and youths take drugs for various reasons including as a remedy of stress from joblessness (unemployment), peer pressure, emotional or physical abuse at home, boredom, depression, anxiety, unstable home environment and poor relationship with parents. Behavioural problems combined with poor parenting, poor achievement in school, availability of drugs, bullying at school are some of the reasons why youths take drugs, Mupembe said. “However, these alone are not the causes of drug use,” he said. Kudakwashe Madzima, a former drug user, gave a testimony on how he started taking drugs to the moment he was rehabilitated. “I started smoking marijuana, multiple times a day. Smoking marijuana helped me forget who I was, the feeling of getting out of my own skin was amazing,” he said. “Later l ‘graduated’ to other drugs and I was using strictly musombodhiya, that substance I was so curious about. “However, I became lonely. I lost everything: lifelong friends and l burnt those bridges.” Madzima, who works with ZCLDN, said his family mobilised resources for him to be rehabilitated in South Africa. “I managed to get a new lease of life after l went through rigorous rehabilitation in South Africa. I am now a changed man, I now live a new life and it’s possible for every one of us using drugs.” Madzima is the chairperson of a drug users support group in Mbare. On Tuesday ZCLDN participated at a Key Populations Forum meeting where the organisation’s outreach administration officer Tinashe Chiweshe highlighted the need to lobby for the decriminalisation of drug use, saying this could help define drug use as a health and social issue, and reduce the damaging stigma attached to people who use drugs. Zimbabwe does not have official data on drug or substance use because a population size estimate has never been done before although anecdotal evidence points to a lot of illicit drug use on the ground in the country. It is estimated 60% of young people aged between 16 and 35 years could have used or are using drugs or substances. Sixty percent of admissions to mental institutions is linked to drug and substance use. Commonly used drugs in Zimbabwe include marijuana (cannabis/mbanje), cocaine, heroin, glue as well as brews such as musombodhiya and kachasu, among others.