Every year 26th June is observed as the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking and the theme of this year is “Health for Justice, Justice for Health.”
Alcohol and substance abuse is becoming a major health hazard and social evil in A&N Islands. It has been proved that the regular use of alcohol or drugs can move rapidly from experimentation to patterns of serious abuse or dependency. It is required to generate awareness and educate people about the ill-effects of Alcoholism and substance abuse and its impact on individuals, family, work place and society at large. Besides, it is the responsibility of state and civil societies to establish community based services for identification, motivation, counseling, de-addiction, after care and rehabilitation for Whole Person Recovery (WPR) of persons conquered by the evils of substance abuse.
I am glad that various awareness generation programmes and camps are organized regularly in various Schools, Educational Institutions and Public Places throughout the Islands which is very essential to curb the menace of drug abuse. I call upon all the Islanders to support the initiative taken by the A & N Administration to ensure a safe and healthy society free from drug abuse and alcoholism.
Sd/-(Admiral D K Joshi)
PVSM, AVSM, YSM, NM, VSM (Retd.)
Lieutenant Governor, A & N Islands Vice Chairman, IDA
