A new centre for drug rehabilitation exclusively for females is on the cards as part of an expansion plan of the Psychiatric Hospital.

"The centre will be used for treating only female patients. We are receiving cases of females admitted for drug and alcohol addiction," said Dr. Masooma Hassan, Chief President of the Almoayyed Drugs and Alcohol Rehabilitation Centre at the Psychiatric Hospital. She said the proposal of the new centre is being reviewed by health officials.

The hospital has a rehabilitation unit, which has 16 beds. Dr. Hassan said the shortage of bed was a big problem they were coping with the increasing number of patients.

" The bed capacity is low and the waiting list keeps increasing. The treatment process takes about 5 weeks while the rehabilitation takes about 3 months," said Dr Hassan.

She said last year, 225 patients were discharged from the hospital after receiving treatment. The hospital is also flooded with GCC and foreign patients for medical services.

The biggest problem, Dr Hassan said they were facing the negative attitude of the society against the patients.

"These patients are rehabilitated but are not accepted by the society. They end up visiting us again after suffering from relapse of their disease."

The doctor also said some patients had a tough time finding a job despite a clean medical record after treatment.

The hospital came into spotlight this year, after reports that drugs and weapons were being smuggled for addicts at the centre. Health officials refuted the allegations and said the Ministry of Interior, which has an agreement with the Health Ministry, took all the patients to the TV room for inspection and nothing was found. Physicians and nurses reportedly raised the complaints to the authorities, as they suspected some patients were still using drugs, after some of them refused for a blood test.

By Sandeep Singh Grewal Staff Reporter

© Bahrain Tribune 2008

 

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