Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has announced the constitution of the State level Advisory Board for De-addiction and Rehabilitation in the state.

He announced this while addressing a one day long State level workshop on Maternal, Infant and Young Child Nutrition and De-addiction here on Wednesday.

The advisory Board for De-addiction and Rehabilitation will be headed by the Chief Minister and this initiative aims streamlining the activities of various line departments on substance abuse to ensure integrated approach towards this menace.

Furthermore, the Chief Minister also declared the Centre of Excellence of Mental Health at Dr. Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College, Tanda as a state level nodal institution for De-addiction and rehabilitation.

He also said that Opioid Substitution Therapy Centre would be established at all medical colleges and district hospitals of the state.

Sukhu said that the School Health Mission will be implemented in the state in collaboration with departments of Education and Health.

“The state government would prepare an action plan for addressing the nutritional concerns of adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating mothers and children upto the age of six years, besides drug abuse prevention, de-addiction and rehabilitation,” he said.

He also directed the Social Justice and Empowerment Department to formulate a mechanism to ensure the well-being of expectant women and their new born upto the age of one year.

“First one thousand days of new born babies are critical, therefore, their health is the priority for the state government,” he said.

He added that the government was also contemplating to delegate the powers to the lower level for the procurement of nutritional supplements to ensure good quality of food items being provided to the eligible pregnant women, lactating mothers.

He directed the officers to formulate SoP in this regard.

The Chief Minister said that there was a need to create awareness at the school level regarding the ill effects of drug abuse.

He said that the state government has initiated a crackdown on drug mafia in the state and many of the culprits had been nabbed and the state government has also made a provision to confiscate their properties.

To curb the drug menace, an integrated approach must be adopted, he said, adding that it is concerning that young children are falling prey to the drug addiction.

“The State Government is concerned about how to protect them and their families from this. We are also going to establish a state of art de-addiction and rehabilitation centre in Kotla Barog of Sirmaur district spread over 150 bighas,” he said.

Health Minister Dr Dhani Ram Shandil, while speaking on the occasion, emphasized on the importance of such deliberations in shaping the positive changes and policy decisions.

He said that the present state government has taken numerous steps to improve the health care infrastructure in the State.

Shandil said that awareness camps play a crucial role in preventing substance abuse, but the cooperation from all sections of the society is equally necessary.