The Prime Minister has requested ministries, sectors and People’sCommittees at municipal and provincial levels carry out drug preventionaction month in June 2015.

He urged involvedparties to increase public awareness-raising campaigns on the harmfuleffect of new psychoactive drugs as well as disseminate the Government’spolicies in drug treatment, especially methadone therapy.

The Government leader also suggested building effectivecommunity-based support centres for drug users while diversifyingcommunication methods through culture and sport activities and strictlysupervising and eradicating illegal drug marketing on the internet.

Specifically, the Ministry of Public Security ought to double effortsto crack down on major drug trafficking rings in domestic hot-spotswhile working with the Ministry of National Defence to prevent drugsfrom entering the country via international border gates, seaports andairports.

The Ministry of Labour, Invalid and SocialAffairs is responsible for completing relevant legal documents andassisting drug users to integrate into the community.

The Ministry of Health is to direct municipal and provincial healthdepartments to open training courses and expand methadone maintenancetreatment which had initial success during a pilot in northern Hai Phongcity and southern Ho Chi Minh City in 2008.

Theprogramme has now expanded to 32 cities and provinces nationwide withmore than 17,500 patients being treated in 92 clinics. After a 12-monthtreatment course, many patients saw their physical and mental healthstabilise, according to the ministry.

According tothe Ministry of Public Security, Vietnam had more than 204,000registered drug users last year, up 42.7 percent from 2010.

The ministry will devise a drug use prevention programme for 2016-2020 to submit to the government for approval.-VNA