WUNRN
2008 World Drug Report
UN Office of Drugs & Crime -
UNODC
Direct Link to Report Executive
Summary:
"In 2007, Afghanistan alone
accounted for 92% of global production of opium.
After six years of decline, opium
poppy cultivation in South-East Asia increased by 22%. It is mainly the cultivation
increase of opium in Afghanistan which led to the record high production of
opium in 2007.
The majority of opiates on the
market in Europe, the Near and Middle East, and Africa, continue to come from
Afghanistan."
_____________________________________________________________________
Afghanistan
- Opium Abuse - Women - Video
This
video short looks at opium abuse among women and children in north eastern
Afghanistan. Afghanistan is the world's leading producer of illicit opium
|
[English] ______________________________________________________________________ |
AFGHANISTAN:
Opium Abuse Harming Women’s, Children’s Health
|
|
|
Sadaf
and Bibi Mullah smoke opium |
YAMGAN, 29 May 2007 (IRIN) - Sadaf started consuming
opium seven years ago after she could not find any medicine to overcome a
headache that had bothered her for weeks. “When I first smoked opium I felt
dizzy for a while, but did not have a headache - so I continued,” the mother of
four told IRIN in the Yamgan District of Afghanistan’s northeastern Badakshan
province.
Sadaf smokes locally produced opium with a tiny hookah
three times a day with her children huddled around her. In the
intoxicating atmosphere of the mud hut filled with opium smoke there is no
chattering by her children; they look dazed and silent.
Grabbing the head of her four-year-old son who has
pneumonia, the mother puts a blowback of smoke into his mouth and puffed a
second breath at his face. “I do this to make him calm and sleep well,” Sadaf
said to justify her actions.
Fanila Zaki, a health worker in Badakhshan, said many
such children suffer from acute respiratory diseases caused by frequent
exposure to opium smoke.
“Some mothers think when their children do not cry and
sleep they are fine,” said Zaki, “but that is simply incorrect and misleading”.
High maternal mortality
With some 1,600 mothers dying per 100,000 births,
Afghanistan has one of the worst maternal mortality rates in the world,
officials at the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) office in Kabul said.
In Badakhshan, 6,500 mothers out 100,000 die while
giving birth - the highest maternal mortality rate in the world, the UN agency
says.
Opium abuse exacerbates the situation, specialists say.
Women who consume opium during pregnancy lose much of their energy and become
vulnerable to different diseases, the provincial health department reported.
“Most addicted mothers suffer from asthma, coughing and
lung problems which make them very weak to endure the burden of pregnancy,” a
local health worker said.
Health workers say some addicted mothers also loose the
chance of a future pregnancy because opium addiction damages their uterus.
Financial burden
Addiction has put a heavy financial burden on many poor
families, plunging them deeper into poverty and social insecurity.
“I’ve been spending 200 Afghani [US$4] on opium every
day for the past seven years. I sold my land in order to afford my addiction,”
another addicted woman, Bibi Mullah, said.
Badakhshan, one of Afghanistan’s most isolated,
underdeveloped and poverty-stricken provinces, has a rugged terrain that
impedes movement in its sparsely populated districts.
There is no official data about the number of drug
addicts in Badakhshan. However, the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crimes
(UNODC) says one million people have drug addiction problems in Afghanistan of
which 45,000 are women.
Poor health service
According to Mohammad Alim Yaqoobi, head of the UNODC
office in Badakhshan, the majority of people in Badakhshan lack access to
health services and awareness about the harm of opium addiction.
“People tend to consume opium as a painkiller. It takes
time until they actually realise that opium itself is a disease and that they
are addicted to it,” added Yaqoobi.
Locals in the district say if health services were
provided they would not use opium as a substitute for medicine.
In Yamgan and many other districts of Badakshan, donkeys
are the only means of transport for the locals. A resident of Jokhan village in
Yamgan District needs two days, either on foot or by donkey, to reach the
nearest medical facility. Opium is thus considered a readily available option.
UNODC has been working in Badakhshan to raise the
awareness of local population about the risks associated with opium
addiction.
However, given the high rate of illiteracy in the
estimated 900,000 population of Badakhshan, it is very difficult to maintain a
robust public information campaign. Some 3,730 opium-addicted individuals who
had received treatment in Badakhshan resumed opium consumption shortly after
the rehabilitation, according to UNODC.
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