The Nakuru County Government has partnered with Hope World Wide Kenya (HWWK) to implement a harm reduction project, aimed at minimizing the negative impact of drug users on affected individuals and communities.
Gerald Maina, the County Head of Preventive and Health Promotion, who’s leading the campaign said Kenya is facing a growing concern with over 26,673 People Who Inject Drugs (PWID), according to the Ministry of Health Key Population Size Estimates (KPSE).
During a sensitization workshop at a Nakuru Hotel Friday, Maina said the ultimate objective was not to just condemn them, but improve community well-being and promote harm reduction practices.
He called for communities to be non-judgmental as a way of encouraging those affected to seek non-coercive provision of services and as a strategy for assisting drug users, especially those who inject themselves to reduce attendant harm.
He also urged policymakers to ensure that active recovery drug users are allowed to have a ‘real voice or say’ in the formation of programs and policies designed for them since they are the consumers.
However, Maina said being gentle and accommodating of the people who inject themselves with drugs wasn’t an attempt to ignore the real and tragic harm, they cause to families and communities.
However, it’s a way of encouraging them and cheering them to desist from such practices for their own good.
The preventive health official observed that empathy allows addicts to repair relationships that were torn apart by a lack of mutual understanding and increases communication levels, which encourages them to have a positive outlook that can contribute to lasting recovery.
Maina appealed to health workers to use empathy in their interaction with addicts, because when customers feel valued and heard, they are more likely to be satisfied with the solutions offered to them.
Maina noted with concern that less than a fifth of the millions of people suffering from drug-use disorder are in treatment, while highlighting the importance of attitude change towards the handling and interacting with the affected.
The International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking was marked this week under the theme, “People First: Stop Stigma and Discrimination, and strengthen prevention.”
By Veronica Bosibori
