Asunción, Agencia IP.- President Santiago Peña highlighted the progress of the Government’s Drug Abuse Action Plan «SUMAR,» which, in its prevention phase, involves the participation of civil society and will soon enable the opening of the first long-stay addiction treatment center run by the State.
The Long-Stay Detoxification and Rehabilitation Residences Center was announced yesterday after a meeting between the president and executive authorities. It will be financed with the proceeds seized from organized crime by the National Secretariat for Asset Management and Recovery (Senabico), amounting to around 15 billion Paraguayan Guarani.
The President emphasized the importance of «these resources finally going to help Paraguayans who have sadly fallen into addiction problems.»
In addition to the addiction treatment center, to be opened on a property of the National Anti-Drug Secretariat (SENAD) in Piribebuy, the financing of the Gs. 12 billion «Pilar» project of the Ministry of Education (MEC) was announced, focusing on preventing the consumption of psychoactive substances in community participation environments.
«There is coordinated work in prevention and in the educational aspect, promoting good habits,» highlighted the President during his visit to the INCAN on Thursday.
«This SUMAR initiative incorporates 22 State institutions, but there are also many private and civil society organizations working toward this goal,» Peña emphasized.
The Government’s SUMAR strategy has three pillars: education, health, and security. For the first pillar, the Government initiated the «Open Schools» program, with broad participation from the educational community in recreational and sports activities.
For the health pillar, rehabilitation and reintegration opportunities for people in addiction situations are envisaged. In the last pillar, security, the Government will work to combat drug trafficking and reduce the supply.