solvent-abuse-pakistan

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Section three of these children was far below the optimal level. 3.7.1 Police stations Street children come into conflict with the law in many ways. Some children may be coerced into involvement in illegal activities, from bag snatching and petty theft to drug peddling. On the other end of the spectrum, these children are often stigmatised by police and the public, who believe they are doing something wrong even if they are playing, reinforcing the perception of street children as criminals. Children are not always taken into justice systems when in conflict with the law, but may be dealt with “informally” when they are perceived to have behaved wrongly. Children worldwide are subject to harassment by police including beatings, abuse and other violence, including sexual violation (ref- Asia Pacific report). Inquiry into the criminal history showed that 49.3% of the children has been arrested at least once in their lifetime by the police. According to the children this arrest was a part of the routine police raids, which is observed once or twice every year. Further exploration into the reasons for which children were arrested revealed that the maximum number of arrests were done on account of minor thefts (40%), followed by solvent use(26%), violence and street fights (10%) and drug peddling (5%). Interestingly 12.7% did not know the reason why they were arrested. Based on the above reasons, we ensured to visit various police officials and gather information on street children from their perspective. The key points are summarized as such: All police officials contacted documented the presence of street children abusing solvents in their respective area. The numbers reported were in accordance with the prevalence estimates provided by the direct estimation method used. The estimates provided by police officials are also given in Table 3.6.2 under indirect estimation. Police officials were asked about their perception on why street children use solvents. According to most, easy availability was the sole reason, which has led to an increas use of solvents among children. 100% of the officers interviewed raised concern over involvement of these children (30 - 50%) in minor criminal activities such as pick pocketing, minor theft, and shop lifting. This feature was in agreement with the information obtained by the children themselves, where it was seen that the police had arrested almost half of the children at least once in lifetime. Another growing concern was the mounting proportions of these children getting involved in prostitution, and drug trafficking, which was informed by officials in Lahore and Karachi. The number of children involved in such activities was feared to be reaching up to 20%, with numbers consistently increasing. Half of the police officials reported to have taken such children into police custody occasionally, but due to the absence of any available facilities, no remedial action could be taken. Thus these children are kept under custody for a few days, and are later set free. Only one official in Peshawar reported that children involved with substance abuse have been referred to a drug detoxification centre for treatment. 3.7.2 Drug abuse treatment facilities Among drug abuse treatment facilities visited, 4 (40%) were government facilities while the remaining were non-governmental organizations (NGO's). Based on the information collected, the key issues are summarized as under: By and large, the core staff consulted was not found to be very familiar with all phases of preventive services (i.e., primary prevention, treatment and rehabilitation) for this sub group of drug using population. Thus, while the majority of staff members met were comfortable with the issues of treatment and rehabilitation of other drugs e.g., heroin, an obvious deficiency was noted in the translation of this concept to children/adolescents treatment and solvent abuse. The issue of solvent abuse is still alien to the drug treatment service providers, and henceforth there either are no services available, or those that do exist do not provide it in an appropriate manner. All of the facilities visited were found to have tailored their services for treatment of heroin addicts, which is the leading cause of admission in these facilities. The government facilities visited in Peshawar (Lady Reading hospital) and Quetta (Civil hospital) informed that they had admitted children involved with solvents recently, but the proportions were negligible (< 5%) as compared to patients admitted for treatment of other drugs. Twelve chronic solvent abusers were undergoing detoxification in Azam clinic (Pakistan society) Karachi, but the management authorities reported a lack of clarity regarding their 34 35
Section four 36 treatment methodology and a rehabilitation program for these children was non existent. Furthermore, none of the facilities mentioned had any staff members specifically trained in Paediatric practice, child or adolescent health, as well to deal with treatment issues of solvent abuse. More than half of the key informants interviewed (60%) expressed lack of knowledge and non existent resources to combat this form of substance abuse. However, an interest was shown to work for provision of services for this segment of population. Upon inquiry regarding what sort of support is required by the facilities to work against the issue of solvent abuse in street children, all facilities focused on provision of training of their staff members on the problem of street children and solvent abuse. None of the facilities visited informed of any primary prevention activities taken up for these children. Reviewing the existing services for the treatment of solvent abuse in the country, the situation is extremely dissatisfying. The core fact, which is of significant importance, is that the majority of health services have been developed for adults. Many such services rarely recognize the unique issues of young people, particularly those of street children, and rarely try to accommodate for their age specific behaviours. Therefore, many young people view health services as unfriendly, threatening, mystifying, unhelpful and inappropriate. Thus even when facilities do exist, specialist drug services tend to poorly understand issues pertinent to young people. Young people tend to be treated as mini-adults, and their particular needs get ignored. RECOMMENDATIONS RECOMMENDATIONS 37
Page 1 and 2: This publication is available from:
Page 3 and 4: This research study would not have
Page 5 and 6: 3.2 Living Conditions & group dynam
Page 7 and 8: e felt on use of the solvent drugs.
Page 9 and 10: BACKGROUND & INTRODUCTION Section o
Page 11 and 12: Section one 1.2 Solvent Abuse Defin
Page 13 and 14: RESEARCH & METHODOLOGIES Section tw
Page 15 and 16: Section three involved in providing
Page 17 and 18: Section three from where these chil
Page 19 and 20: Section three Results show that a l
Page 21 and 22: 3.4.3 Effects of Solvent abuse Rese
Page 23 and 24: Section three 3.4.6 Treatment When
Page 25: Section three 3.6 Magnitude of the
Page 29 and 30: REFRENCES Section four Formative o

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