Anantnag: The Addiction Treatment Facility (ATF) at Government Medical College Anantnag is yet to be made functional even as it had got the approval 18 months back.
In September 2020 the College got approval from the All India Medical Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) for the setting of the outdoor facility.
The initiative coordinated by National Drug Dependence Treatment Center, department of psychiatry AIIMS is funded by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MOSJE) , Government of India.
An official said the GMC Anantnag was the first among all newly established medical colleges to apply for the sanctioning of the facility in May 2019 and subsequently the first to get approval too. “ GMC Kathua and GMC Baramula which got the approval only recently have the ATF fully functional,” he said.
An official said both the colleges, have already recruited the necessary manpower- medical officers, counselors, nursing orderlies, and data operators for the facility. “ GMC Anantnag conducted the interview of the aspiring candidates long back, but the order has not been issued yet,” he said.
GMC Anantnag has already a de-addiction facility functioning under the aegis of the department of psychiatry and the facility experts believe that considering the enormity of substance abuse in South Kashmir, ATF is the need of the hour.
“The facility will exclusively be a separate OPD for substance abuse but later IPD facility can also be started gradually,” a medic said.This would also benefit the patients from South Kashmir who otherwise had to rely on sole drug de-addiction and rehabilitation centers in IMHANS, SMHS, Srinagar.
Principal, GMC Anantnag, Dr Tariq Qureshi says, the facility would be started once they get the administrative approval. An approval letter issued by Dr Atul Ambedkar, Professor Chief of NDDTC department of psychiatry AIIMS and in-charge ATF had asked the Principal to pass directions to hospital administration and nodal officer to plan the process of refurbishment/ renovation of the identified space for ATF to make it suitable for operation.
Assistant Professor GMC Anantnag was designated as Nodal officer of the initiative. The patients in the facility will be provided medicines free of cost. Further, AIIMS will itself be imparting guidance to run the facility.