ISLAMABAD: Two years after its launch, the federal government, yet again, has launched the National Drugs Survey, this time by the Interior Ministry, claiming that this survey has been launched after a gap of 11 years.
In the year 2022, the then Narcotics Control Minister Shahzain Bugti had launched the National Drugs Survey, a joint collaboration between the Ministry of Narcotics Control and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
Presently, however, the fate of this survey remains largely unknown. When contacted, Director General Media at Interior Ministry Qadir Yar Tiwana said that 2022 National Drugs Survey was launched but it was not executed. He suggested this correspondent contact the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) for details regarding the survey. The ANF representative was not available on the phone for his version on the matter.
Meanwhile, Minister for Interior and Narcotics Control Mohsin Naqvi on Thursday approved the conduct of a fresh National Drugs Survey. The minister has given in-principle approval to conduct the National Drug Survey in a meeting of the Committee on National Drug Survey held at the Ministry of Interior and issued directives to finalise the survey within 15 months.
According to the government, the last drug survey was held in 2012-13 which revealed that 6.7 million adults in Pakistan were addicted to drugs.
The minister said that the fresh survey will collect data on drug users across the country. He directed that the survey must be conducted transparently and professionally. Naqvi further directed that in addition to households, data should also be collected from educational institutions, slums and other areas.
He emphasised that accurate data is essential for informed decision-making about drug prevention. He reiterated that drug prevention is a national issue, and no compromise will be made on it.
Naqvi asked that survey-related matters should be finalised within 15 days. He tasked the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) and Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) to jointly work out the methodology, nature of the required data, sample format and timeline for conducting the survey. He said that international development organisations may also be approached for cooperation in this regard.
The meeting was attended by federal secretary interior, federal secretary for planning, additional secretary finance, special secretary health, the DG ANF, and the chief statistician.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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