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The Social Welfare Department (SWD) has commissioned four non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to run four new Counselling Centres for Psychotropic Substance Abusers (CCPSAs). This will bring the total number of these centres from seven to 11, covering all the administrative districts of the SWD across Hong Kong.
The Director of Social Welfare, Mr Patrick Nip, today (July 12) visited an existing CCPSA operated by the Hong Kong Christian Service to serve the Kowloon West Region, where he saw how the centre provides a wide range of subvented one-stop services to assist psychotropic substance abusers (PSAs) and young people at risk in abstaining from drug abuse and developing a healthy lifestyle.
These include treatment and rehabilitation services for PSAs, counselling and support services for PSAs and their family members, outreaching services to black spots frequently visited by young PSAs, training programmes and professional advice for the stakeholders concerned, preventive education and publicity programmes for students, habitual/occasional/potential PSAs and the neighbourhood at large, as well as on-site medical support services with a view to identifying and motivating PSAs to seek rehabilitation services early.
Mr Nip said he was impressed by the CCPSA's activities and facilities which were conducive to the rehabilitation of young PSAs. He thanked the professional team, comprising social workers and a psychiatric nurse, for their dedicated service to people in need in the fight against drug abuse.
He also talked to some young service users and was pleased to learn that they had stopped taking drugs and had been developing a healthy life. The ex-abusers warned youngsters of the harm in abusing drugs and advised drug abusers to seek professional help as early as possible.
Mr Nip said that the progressive introduction of CCPSAs had proven successful. This year the Government had earmarked an additional provision of over $20 million per year to establish four more centres so as to extend the service to all districts in Hong Kong, providing more timely and easily accessible service.
The Hong Kong Christian Service has recently been commissioned to operate a new CCPSA designated for the Sham Shui Po District. Three other new centres will be operated by the Hong Kong Children and Youth Services in the Tsuen Wan/Kwai Tsing District, Hong Kong Lutheran Social Service in the Wong Tai Sin/Sai Kung District, and Tung Wah Group of Hospitals in the Central Western/Southern/Islands District. These centres will come into operation in October 2010.
Ends/Monday, July 12, 2010
Issued at HKT 17:11
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