Avons-nous les professionnels requis dans les centres de désintoxication ?
By Doris Day
Addiction is eating away at the fabric of our society, leaving a trail of destruction and despair in its wake. It is not just about substance abuse. It is about a culture of addiction that has us hooked on everything from sugar to social media, from gambling to sex, from alcohol to easy money. At the speed it is going, soon suicide will be another kind of substitute. We are a nation of addicts, and it is killing us.
The sad truth is that we are not equipped to deal with it. How many addictologists do we have in this country? How many addicts can afford to see one? The answer is, very few. Nearly none. Instead, we are peddled pills and platitudes, a quick fix that never addresses the underlying problem.
It is a joke, really. We know how serious the problem is. We rely on the experience of fellow addicts to guide us, people who are themselves struggling to stay clean. It is like asking a drowning man to save another. The results are there to see: more addicts, more addiction, more death.
I have seen it firsthand. I have had friends in those local centres, and I can attest that nothing professional was done to really help them. I told the staff, I often begged them to do something, but it fell on deaf ears. Many died from an overdose while everyone thought they were okay. Many tragedies that could have been prevented due to amateurism.
It is time for a radical change. The government needs to swallow its pride and act decisively on two fronts:
- Request immediate international assistance through diplomatic channels
The Government of Mauritius must formally request help from all friendly nations through their embassies. The objective is to establish one state-of-the-art National Addiction Treatment and Training Centre with these pillars:
– Deploy foreign specialists: Bring in qualified psychiatrists, addictologists, nurses, and social workers from India, France, Réunion, Singapore, Canada, and the USA to treat patients directly on Mauritian soil.
– Train our own: These international professionals will train local doctors, psychologists, and counsellors in evidence-based protocols for detox, substitution therapy, and relapse prevention. The goal is full handover within 5 years.
– Equipment and medication: Request donations of beds, diagnostic tools, and WHO-approved substitution drugs like Methadone and Buprenorphine.
– Co-funding: Engage the WHO, UNODC, and the European Union to co-finance construction and the first 3 years of operations.
This single national centre will replace the current scattered, under- resourced efforts and cut waiting time from 6 months to 2 weeks.
- Learn from what works abroad
Mauritius cannot reinvent the wheel while our people die. Other nations have faced this crisis and achieved results. We must adopt services that are proven to save lives.
We need prevention, education, and enforcement. We need to stop the drugs from coming in, and we need to start teaching our children how to live without addiction. It is a tall order, but it is the only way forward.
These local centres are just giving false hope to families, promising them the world but delivering amateurish work. It is a scam, and it is time it stopped. And paid for. Supposed social worker getting good salaries and bringing only failures and still don’t understand that they have to give up.
I have seen friends die, I have watched families torn apart, and I have begged for someone, anyone, to do something. The government has a responsibility to act, and it is time they take it seriously. The lives of our citizens depend on it.
We deserve better. Our children deserve better. It is time for a new approach, one that prioritizes professionalism, compassion, and results. Anything less is a betrayal of the trust we have placed in our leaders.
The clock is ticking.