The Youth Council of the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) has held a youth circle to highlight the dangers of drug abuse and the importance finding solutions to addiction problems, especially by increasing awareness campaigns among university students.

During the gathering, the ministry’s youth council called on young people and students to engage in sports activities and join volunteering teams. It also highlighted the necessity of rehabilitating and reintegrating former addicts into the society, away from being shamed.

The youth circle was held on Monday at Al Amal Psychiatric Hospital, Dubai, under the theme “Addiction: Solutions and Challenges” in coordination with various youth councils and universities, to mark the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, which is annually celebrated on 26 June. Present at the meeting were representatives from the Federal Youth Authority and university students 

Shared Responsibility 

 Run by Dr. Jassim Mohammed Al Marzouqi, Psychology Consultant at the Ministry of Health and Prevention, the youth circle shed light on the scourge of drug facing most countries and underlined its effects on individuals and the entire society, in terms of hindering social, economic, health and educational development efforts. 

Dr. Sultan Sharif, Chairman of the Ministry's Youth Council, reaffirmed that combating drugs is a shared social responsibility, in which efforts are combined at the health, policing, civil and educational levels. He noted that young people play a very vital role in fighting drugs given they are active members in their families and educational and social institutions.

 He added that the UAE has been one of the leading countries to launch specific initiatives and awareness and rehabilitation programs to limit drug implications and protect communities from this scourge.

Control over narcotic and psychotropic drugs

Dr. Sharif underscored the council's keenness to support government's programs aiming to combat drugs and protect young people by paying utmost attention to drug addiction and listing this issue on the annual agenda of activities, in coordination with concerned institutions and bodies including the Ministry of Interior and the Federal Youth Authority.

The Ministry of Health and Prevention plays a fundamental role in fighting drug, like other governmental institutions, through its therapeutic role in its affiliated hospitals, the most important of which is Al Amal Psychiatric Hospital. 

The Ministry, in cooperation with the partners of the Higher Committee for Monitor and Review of Schedules of Narcotic and Psychotropic Substances, do their utmost to boost control over narcotic and psychotropic drugs to protect society from the dangers of narcotic substances that cause health and economic burdens.