Grenada Wednesday signed a multi-million dollar contract for the construction of a drug rehabilitation center amid concerns that the country is consistently among the top six consumers of alcohol per capita in the Americas.
Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell speaking at the signing of the EC$15.8 million (One EC dollar=US$0.37 cents) Mirabeau Drug Rehabilitation Centre to be financed by his administration, said that mental health and wellness is a state of affairs that has concerned the government, the private sector and the general public in the main. He said according to official figures, provided by the World Health Organization (WHO) and regional data, Grenadians consume an average of 7.3 to 8.6 litres of pure alcohol annually.
‘This places Grenada, and we have been placed consistently among the top six consumers of alcohol per capita in the Americas,’ he said, adding that ‘culturally normalised substance abuse, because we have culturally normalised the abuse of alcohol, it has had significant consequences for citizens.’
Mitchell said that the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) report found that for young adults and adults in Grenada, substance use disorders account for 19 per cent of the total mental health and neuropsychiatric burden.
‘Alcohol alone makes up 14 per cent of that burden in youths and adults, and rises to 20 per cent of the healthcare burden for individuals between 50 and 70 years old,’ he said, noting that the tracking shows that annually, approximately 120 patients are admitted to hospital strictly for alcohol-associated medical problems, such as alcoholic cirrhosis, liver disease, and alcohol-induced behavioural disorders.
He said that narcotic statistics are also tracked, and often through treatment admissions, seizures, and rehabilitation attempts.
‘It shows that male clients seeking treatment heavily outnumber female clients and I believe you will see in the statistics, in terms of number of rooms that are designed in this building, you will see that more rooms are allocated for men than they are for women and young adults’.
Mitchell said that while men seek treatment for a combination of alcohol, cannabis, crack cocaine, women are primarily admitted often times for alcohol abuse,’ he said, adding that theagreement with the loccal contractor ‘is about beginning to address the significant challenges posed by substance abuse in Grenada, both legal, culturally normalised, as well as illegal substance abuse.
‘And we have to begin to accept that normalising the abuse of substances, whether they be legal or illegal has significant consequences for the mental health as well as physical health of our population,’ Mitchell said, adding that he has not spoken of the economic burden that it places on the health system, on taxpayers, and on productivity.
‘Therefore, the commencement of the process to have this rehabilitation facility built is simply one cog in the wheel that we must be able to reverse the normalisation of substance abuse and to be able to ensure that we can reduce the number of men and women, but particularly men, who find themselves abusing repeatedly and not being able to rehabilitate themselves from the substance abuse, that is frankly right before our eyes.
‘That we have chosen to accept, to normalise, or to pretend it is not happening, often times with significant consequences, including sometimes death, violence, significant abuse, and dysfunction in our society,’ Mitchell told the signing ceremony.
Youth, Sport and Mental Health Minister, Delma Thomas, said that the construction of the facility is an important investment in ensuring that persons who need this support can receive care ‘in a safe, dignified and appropriate environment’
She said that the last time Grenada had a rehabilitation was over 20 years nand that the ceremony today shows that the government is serious about mental health.
‘We are not just talking mental health. We have made many strides as a government in providing support. We do have community health nurses going out in every parish, but as a government we have also provided the support, financial and other support for them to provide the service in the community.’
She said that this project is particularly important, noting that rehabilitation is about giving people the support, opportunity to recover, rebuild their lives and successfully return to their families and communities.
‘And we know the issues that we have on the street with so many young men and women included, who are involved in drug abuse and drug use. And we really seriously cannot accommodate them because we do not provide the service for rehabilitation, for serious drug rehabilitation there.
‘And so it is important that we have this new facility and I therefore welcome that new facility,’ Thomas added.