The federal government has finally resumed the National Drugs Survey after they had to discontinue it 11 years ago. This time it was an Interior Ministry that oversees the actions which can be considered as a turning point in the battle against drug addiction in the country.
Background
The National Drugs Survey was launched in 2022 by previous Narcotics Control Minister Shahzain Bugti in accordance with UNODC guidelines. But to the discussion, the survey was never carried out. Qadir Yar Tiwana, Director of General Media at the Interior Ministry, said though the survey was initiated, it was not carried out. However, attempts to get additional details from the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) were made, though in vain.
New Initiative
Now, Minister for Interior and Narcotics Control Mohsin Naqvi has formally signed a new National Drugs Survey. While discussing with the officials of the Ministry of Interior recently, Naqvi stressed the necessity to finish counting in the period of 15 months. He emphasized that the evaluation should be done openly and professionally.
The last major drug report, based on the survey taken in 2012-13, suggested that 6. This law of the land revealed that over 7 million adults within the shortest possible time in Pakistan were addicted to drugs. To this end, a new survey is planned with a view of revising this data, and information provided from the household level and school-going children, and from the slum areas and many other areas.
Goals and Directives
This has led to the call by the Federal Minister for International Business and Innovation, Naqvi, for proper collection of data for the management of drug prevention. He said that the fight against drug dependency is a focus of every nation and thus it needs to be approached seriously. What followed were directions given by Naqvi that all minutiae of the survey should be completed in 15 days. He delegated to the ANF and PBS the roles of coming up with the methodology, data, formats of samples, and time for the survey. He also recommended the need to engage with the international development organizations.
Meeting Participants
Part decorators who attended the meeting were the Federal Secretary of Interior, Secretary for Planning and development, additional secretary of finance, Special Secretary of Health, Director General of ANF, and Chief of the statistics department.