KOHIMA NASHA MUKT BHARAT ABHIYAN CONDUCTS WORKSHOP ON SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER

Added: 2026-06-01

[00:00:10]MCS additional deputy commissioner Kohima, I want to welcome you to the program.

[00:00:15]Dr. Kethoser Anou, the honorable additional medical superintendent NHAK, thank you for blessing us with your presence. Dr. Imotemsu Ao, managing director NHAK, on behalf of the NHK Kohima, I extend a very warm welcome to each one of you on this one-day workshop come training program on substance use disorder conducted under the banner of the Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyan.

[00:00:43]At the outset, I would like to sincerely acknowledge and thank Mr. Rokovitsu Noudi, additional uh deputy commissioner Kohima, our MD uh NHAK, Dr. Imotemsu Ao, and uh Dr. Sarthak Singh, IAS, SDO Sadar, assistant commissioner, for gracing this uh program with your presence and continuous support towards this important initiative.

[00:01:10]NHAK is uh deeply honored to be a part of the Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyan committee.

[00:01:18]We consider it both a privilege and a responsibility to contribute towards this national movement aimed at addressing substance abuse and strengthening support systems for affected individuals and families.

[00:01:34]The Department of Social Justice and Empowerment launched the Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyan on the 15th of August 2020, and the campaign is being implemented across districts throughout the country.

[00:01:51]The program aims at preventing substance abuse through sustained awareness, outreach activities, and community participation with special priority focus on youth, women, and educational institutions.

[00:02:09]Primary health centers and hospitals often serve as the very first point of contact for individuals struggling with substance use disorders, especially during emergencies and crisis situations.

[00:02:24]As health care providers, we are in a unique position to identify vulnerable individuals early, intervene appropriately, and support recovery with empathy, professionalism, and evidence-based care.

[00:02:41]The importance of capacity building among health care professionals therefore cannot be underestimated.

[00:02:49]Naga Hospital, Kohima, has always stood at the frontline in addressing substance use disorders in our state.

[00:02:59]We have a dedicated de-addiction center that consistently functions at full capacity, an OST center, drug treatment clinic, district mental health program, and Project REST.

[00:03:14]The Project REST, which is a voluntary initiative of Naga Hospital, aimed at providing free day care rehabilitation services for individuals on the path to recovery.

[00:03:26]These services reflect our continuing commitment towards treatment, rehabilitation, and reintegration of affected individuals into society.

[00:03:39]Therefore, when this opportunity was given to us to conduct a training program for health care providers, we felt it was important to extend the participation beyond our institution and we have invited members from private hospitals, urban cases, NGOs, and other organizations.

[00:04:01]We understand that the substance use disorder is not a challenge faced by one institution alone. It is everyone's fight and we are all facing similar challenges in our workplaces and communities.

[00:04:16]Very often, government institutions and private health health care establishments work independently and rarely get the opportunity to come together for combined academic and clinical training programs.

[00:04:32]We hope that today's workshop will mark the beginning of greater collaboration and regular joint training initiatives in the future.

[00:04:44]Where we can learn from one another, strengthen professional relationships, and collectively improve the quality of care delivered to our society.

[00:04:58]I would also like to sincerely acknowledge the presence of all the representatives from private hospitals, the urban cases, NGOs, and various departments who have taken the time to participate in this program. Your presence here today reflects a shared commitment towards improvement addiction care and mental health services to our state.

[00:05:23]Substance use disorders are often accompanied by stigma and misunderstanding. Many affected individuals hesitate to seek help because of fear, shame, discrimination, or social isolation.

[00:05:40]As health care providers, it is our responsibility not only to treat the medical aspects of addiction, but also to provide a safe and supportive environment where individuals are treated with dignity, compassion, and respect.

[00:06:00]>> [applause] [applause] >> This workshop come training and capacity building program, uh which is specifically targeted for health care and service providers in the management of substance use disorder.

[00:06:23]As mentioned earlier, this uh the Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyan, this is a nationwide campaign, a national movement towards a drug-free India, a campaign which has been going on for the last uh 5-6 years.

[00:06:43]As we are all aware, as per the Constitution of India, it is the moral responsibility of the state, as per our directive principles of state policy, to control the for the state to control the consumption of any intoxicating substances which are injurious to health.

[00:07:05]So, in [snorts] alignment with this uh with this directive, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in the in the year 2018 came up with what is called the NA NAPDDR, the National Action Plan, a national action plan for drug demand reduction.

[00:07:28]So, this Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyan, this is one of the key initiative under this National Action Plan.

[00:07:40]It seeks to address the problem of drug and substance abuse through a comprehensive framework focused mainly on preventive education awareness and generation, counseling, treatment as well as rehabilitation.

[00:08:02]Over the course of the last 5-6 years, the central government has the ministry has invested a huge amount of resources in this campaign which itself shows the seriousness and the commitment of the central ministry, the central government in dealing with the menace of drug and substance abuse.

[00:08:23]Crores of people have been sensitized about this problem and lots of people health care providers as well as medical professionals were trained on how to deal with this problem of drug and substance abuse.

[00:08:44]The campaign is mainly focused on three strategies, three-pronged strategy supply control, demand reduction as well as medical treatment.

[00:08:59]In for our district, we have a committee, we have a dedicated committee headed by our deputy commissioner to deal with this uh uh campaign to carry forward this campaign.

[00:09:12]We have three main NGOs who are working with us the Kripa Foundation the Youth Mission as well as the the Ark Foundation.

[00:09:24]Most of the activities under this campaign we are focusing mostly on the IEC related activities as well as the rehabilitation uh work, it is continuously going on.

[00:09:42]But, over and above the participation and the assistance that we are getting from the NGOs and in the role of the this issue of drug and substance abuse, it is something which directly concerns the medical department.

[00:09:56]So, the medical department, unless and until the medical department or medical professionals and health care service providers, you come forward with your assistance, it is very difficult to effectively deal with this problem of drug and substance abuse.

[00:10:14]And it is from this viewpoint that I think today's program, it has new significance to train our health care providers and health professionals on how to deal with this problem more effectively.

[00:10:29]We are grateful to our medical doctors and all the uh assistance from the uh the the medical department who have assisted us all in the course of the last many years in carrying forward this campaign.

[00:10:46]And we look forward again to your uh in the coming years also your active participation, your valuable inputs as well as your suggestions, your suggestions and as well as your leadership in how to effectively uh carry forward this cam- campaign in realization of the target, the aim of achieving a drug-free >> So, I want to ask you today, are you dependent on any substance or any activities?

[00:11:15]Let us just ask ourselves, right? There are It's very simple. There's just six criterias, okay? One is loss of control.

[00:11:23]All right. So, do you have any loss of control over any substance or any activities?

[00:11:29]Priority over other activities. You give importance to that particular activity.

[00:11:34]The first thing I do sometimes is pick up the phone.

[00:11:36]You know, to do I have priority over other activities?

[00:11:41]Withdrawal. Do you experience experience withdrawal when you don't use that particular substance?

[00:11:48]Craving. Intense craving, which is subjective. People will not be able to see whether you feel it inside. You really want to use that particular drug or that particular behavior.

[00:11:59]Use despite of harm.

[00:12:01]You use it You know it's bad for you, but you continue to use it like this particular individual.

[00:12:07]And then, tolerance.

[00:12:09]Last year, you used to use this much amount. This year, it's like double the amount.

[00:12:13]So, it's increasing over time.

[00:12:16]So, if there are any three out of these six as per the ICD-10, International Classification of Diseases, then most probably, you are also dependent on that particular activity.

[00:12:32]My dependency will be talking loud.

[00:12:34]If I don't talk loud, I experience withdrawal, restlessness.

[00:12:39]So, I have to talk loud.

[00:12:42]Uh again, believe it or not, I was called to the ER again.

[00:12:51]But, this thing, this particular person had a spinal injury. Lumbar sacral spinal injury along with fracture of femur. And me being a addiction doctor, mm I was quite confused why do they want me there? You know, what can I do? Maybe they wanted some methadone or buprenorphine to treat his pain. But, apparently, this person had jumped from three floors down.

[00:13:18]Because he was in a rehab trying to get well, but the withdrawal that he experienced in the rehab was too much that he had to escape from the facility and in doing so he broke his spine as well as his femur.

[00:13:33]His thigh bone.

[00:13:36]Withdrawals can be a very very unpleasant experience.

[00:13:43]So is overdose.

[00:13:46]We as health care professionals, we need to know what is withdrawal, what is overdose or what is intoxication.

[00:13:54]Without knowing that we may not be able to help them. So today just for us to know what is withdrawal and overdose, I'll just give you two words.

[00:14:07]Okay, three words. Yeah, maybe four words. Sorry.

[00:14:10]Pani puri, right? Pani puri is the pani puri that we have with with water, lots of liquid in it.

[00:14:18]What? So pani puri is withdrawal. All right, please know that. And then sukha roti, dry. Everything is dry is overdose.

[00:14:27]So in your setup, if anybody comes with excess of sweating, excess of runny nose, tearing, sneezing, salivation, urination, defecation, diarrhea, okay, with lots of tremors, very sleepy individual, right? That means he's having withdrawal.

[00:14:47]And if a person comes very dry, no sweat, no nothing, he's not able to talk, communicate, pinpoint pupils, most probably he's overdose.