NCSA TO START A COMMUNITY DRIVE AS PART OF DRUG AWARENESS MONTH

The National Council on Substance Abuse (NCSA) plans to tackle the growing number of issues which have been preventing women from seeking treatment for substance abuse issues.

This promise was made by NCSA Deputy Manager Troy Wickham, during his organisation’s community drive through campaign held across the island for Drug Awareness Month.
During one of the many stops made on Friday, Wickham said that the focus going forward will be on specialized and targeting programmes aimed at tackling the growing issue.
“We are focusing heavily on gender-specific programming; we held a survey recently which highlighted that females do not really present themselves to treatment facilities for treatment. We would try to encourage females to present themselves for treatment using several interventions we have planned, and we actually plan to improve on that survey and conduct further investigations as it relates to the reasons behind women not presenting themselves.”
The 2023 national survey titled Barriers to Substance Abuse Treatment in Barbados: Factors Hindering Women’s Use of Treatment, showed that women who have significant challenges with substance use, often find it difficult to access the help they desperately need for a variety of reasons.

Wickham said: “One of the things coming out of the survey is that females were concerned about their children. If they had to go into residential treatment, who would care for their children? The stigma associated with a female being labelled as what we call a ‘parro’, a substance abuser. Those things we are trying to work [on], educate the public, let persons know that addiction is a disease and a public health issue, not just a judicial issue.”
The NCSA plans to soon launch a parenting programme, where mothers will learn the ways of stress management, and how to effectively communicate with their children.