By Rey Anthony Chiu | 11:20 PM November 12, 2022
As a measure to harmonize the duration of rehabilitation of persons who use drugs (PWUD) based on their affectation based on the locally crafted ordinance and the recent Regional manual to guide the implementation of the community based drug rehabilitation program, the provincial legislative under Vice Governor Dionisio Victor Balite is poised to introduce the necessary amendments.
It may be recalled that Bohol Sangguniang Panlalawigan in 2017, enacted Provincial Ordinance No 2007-004, which adopts the Community-based drug rehabilitation program Without-walls (CBRP-WoW).
Well, the move was to provide a comprehensive drug rehabilitation program aimed at providing holistic approach for drug users to save them from wasting their lives, through therapeutic methods, while redeveloping their physical, emotional, psychological, social, economic and spiritual strengths on their way to the mainstream, explained Vice Governor Balite.
The ultimate motive is to achieve a “Drug Free Community or Family” through proper evaluation and determination by appropriate government agencies and stakeholders, based on the ordinance preamble.
Putting the preservation of life as the anchor of the program, CBRP-WoW allows the person who use drugs, be they deeply dependent or a first user, the chance to change through and steer his life away from dangers, and surviving on the support of the family, community, to work together to hand-hold the person back to the mainstream.
Back then in 2017, Bohol’s CBRP WoW, specifically its section 4 which talks of the duration of the program lays down two rehabilitation durations: 3 months program for those assessed as low-risk drug users, not violent and of sound mind; and 5 months program for those assessed as moderate-risk and of sound mind.
The more serious cases would have to be placed under a medical institution for a more intense rehabilitation program.
Recently however, the Department of Health, Central Visayas Center for Health Development, Region VII saw the need to bridge the gap between the knowledge of the nature of drug use and drug dependence and the implementation of the various approaches needed to be done in the various levels of care.
With this, the CHD in Region 7 issued a regional Guidance Manual on CBRP for PWUDs (PWUDs) in Central Visayas to address issues and concerns on provision of services especially at the community level where a greater percentage of those affected needs primary health care.
Instead of the simplified classification and duration of the rehabilitation, and based on the need to fit the ordinance to the regional manual, SP in Bohol, with the sponsorship of Board Member Tomas Abapo, proposes to amend the section to accommodate the general intervention program for PWUDs.