Africa-Press – Mauritius. A two-day workshop focused on Enhancing Psychological Support in Methadone Maintenance Treatment opened this morning at the ENT Hospital in Vacoas. The initiative aims to equip medical personnel and social workers from Non-Governmental Organisations with enhanced skills to better support the treatment, rehabilitation, and social reintegration of People Who Use Drugs (PWUDs).
The workshop, jointly organised by the Ministry of Health and Wellness and the National Agency for Drug Control (NADC), seeks to sustain psychosocial interventions as an essential component of the national response to drug use. It also forms part of the NADC’s official programme for World AIDS Day 2025. In alignment with national and global efforts to combat HIV, the workshop addresses persistent challenges, namely the stigma and discrimination faced by PWUDs and People Living with HIV in healthcare settings.
The Chief Executive Officer of the NADC, Dr Fayzal Sulliman, the Medical Officer of the Harm Reduction Unit of the Ministry of Health and Wellness, Dr Nitish Sunt, and other key stakeholders were present.
In his address, Dr Sulliman emphasised the crucial role of psychosocial support in reducing the risk of relapse among PWUDs while outlining the importance of closing the gap between medical treatment and psychosocial care to improve long-term recovery outcomes.
He also referred to measures to enhance the methadone distribution framework and reinforce coordination mechanisms aimed at reducing the supply of illicit drugs by preventing, disrupting, or limiting their entry, production, and circulation.
On that score Dr Sulliman called for sustained collaboration from frontline professionals to support the NADC in its mission and reaffirmed the Agency’s mandate to buttress the national response to drug use through evidence-based harm-reduction and demand-reduction strategies.
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