PM: Joint efforts saved many drug victims

PRIME Minister Kassim Majaliwa has said the government has succeeded in reaching out to many victims of drug abuse for interventions in helping them quit the addiction.

Premier Majaliwa attributed the achievement to the cooperation between the government and various stakeholders including civil society organisations in the fight against drugs.

Mr Majaliwa made the remark on Sunday during the climax of the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking which was held nationally in the Arusha region.

“The government succeeded in reaching many victims of drug abuse due to the joint efforts between the government and various stakeholders in the fight against drugs…We are grateful for their contributions financially and morally, including cooperating with Drug Control and Enforcement Authority (DCEA) in provision of education to the drug addicts,” the premier said.

Adding: “There are services that we received from them and we have succeeded in reaching many Tanzanians who were affected by drugs, and today we have seen some of them giving testimonies here.”

In particular, Mr Majaliwa congratulated the media for their efforts to educate the public about the negative effects of drugs, adding that the success achieved by the government so far is due to the good job made by the media practitioners.

He also commended various artists who participated in the event for providing education on the effects of drugs, while promising to continue using the artists to educate society.

Earlier the Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (Policy, Coordination and Parliamentary Affairs) Ms Jenista Mhagama, applauded President Samia Suluhu Hassan for showing her commitment to the fight against drugs by increasing the budget by 104 per cent, from 11.9 bn/- to 24.4 bn/- for the financial year 2023/24.

“For the first time since we started the fight against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, we have been able to get funds from the development budget…and we are going to build treatment centres that will include the provision of vocational training, we have realised that we must combine treatment and vocational education to protect the national workforce,” the minister pointed out.

Moreover, the minister acknowledged the good job performed by the DCEA while promising to work on the authority’s recommendations in the fight against drugs.

In a related development, Ms Mhagama said the commemoration of the day is a requirement of the United Nations (UN) while insisting that Tanzania has implemented it well.

“We celebrate the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking nationally here in Arusha today (yesterday) to ensure the message and mission of our government in fighting against drugs is a sustainable agenda in our country,” she underlined.