Kohima, April 10 (MExN): “The nation and our state have been desperately trying to halt the spread of COVID-19 during this lockdown by restricting human and vehicular movement in our state. However, we are also aware that some of the public, including people who use drugs and alcohol, have not been fully abiding by the lockdown advisories, as evidenced by some incidents reported recently when they were brought to task by the police and youth volunteers enforcing the lockdown,” Network of Nagaland Drugs and AIDS Organisations (NNagaDAO), wrote to the Principal Secretary, Home Department, Government of Nagaland on Friday.
NNagaDAO while extending its appreciation to all health workers, law enforcement agencies, administrative officials and volunteers risking their lives to protect our people, has urged to the Principal Secretary to direct the law enforcement personnel (police as well as youth volunteers) on duty not to resort to beatings, taking videos of these incidents and sharing these images on social media.
“We believe that it should be the court of law that should decide on the course of action as per the provisions of the law. In our efforts to control the spread of COVID-19, universal human dignity and the fundamental principles of human rights should not be undermined or violated in the contexts of individuals or groups,” the Organisation said in the letter issued by its president Abou Mere.
It maintained that for decades, several measures were taken up by various agencies to control drug use and alcoholism in Nagaland, but most of these failed to produce the desired results as they were not grounded in evidence-based clinical understanding of the issue. In a progressive move, the Nagaland State Government has adopted the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Policy, based on scientific evidence and promoting a human rights approach. It added that at this critical phase of the pandemic, we feel that it is crucial for the State Government to ensure a public health approach for the treatment of drug users and alcoholics by ensuring availability and accessibility of treatment services, as well as referral to treatment centers, as also stated in the aforementioned policy.
While appreciating all the efforts that are being taken by State Government to protect the safety and health of all sections of the population, NNagaDAO stated that it look forward to collectively working towards ensuring that this protection and health services are extends to drug users and alcoholics in Nagaland.
The apex body of NGOs and CBOs working in the field of drugs and HIV and AIDS in Nagaland, NNagaDAO is an issue-based advocacy platform constituted to address the collective concerns and needs of the organisations and key population communities involved in this sector.
