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EAST AFRICAN STANDARD. FRIDAY 18 OCTOBER, 2002

CONGRATULATIONS on The Big Issue of Monday October 14, 2002, titled "Could your child be taking drugs?"

I feel it made a big contribution to helping drag the Kenyan public from their collective denial that the problem exists to the extent that it is oft stated.

Many even dismiss people like Mr. Joseph Kaguthi, the coordinator for the National Campaign Against Drug Abuse (Nacada) as being alarmist.

I would like, however, to take issue with most of the opinions expressed in one of the articles by Dr. Eric Achoki as regards rehabilitation.

Though he starts off well by stating that there are no clear-cut policy guidelines on alcoholism and hard drug addiction and that he is appalled that these people " have often been classified as mental cases and deferred to mental hospitals".

He then goes on to drop the ball completely by stating; " that besides the fact that there are only a couple of treatment ad rehabilitation centers in the country, all are haphazardly instituted and lack the necessary structures that would enable them to effectively deal with the problem."

He goes on to say " the centers have become sort of boarding and lodging facilities where little else takes place apart from accommodation and meals."

Achoki states that the issue of professional input in these centres is "ignored" by these centers with " horrifying" consequences and still the "relapse rate among alcoholics and hard drug abusers has hit the 98 per cent mark, reducing the efforts to address the problem to an exercise in futility"

There is lots more in this vein including " most victims are subjected to a rigorous and most raw form of treatment" known as cold turkey. He then steps into outright fallacy when he states " The simple fact that most rehabilitation facilities do not seem to understand is that you cannot withdraw the substance from a cocaine addict so suddenly and expect them to live."

Achoki still sounding the alarm is amazed " that the proprietors of some of the rehabs are quacks and former drug addicts themselves" and that it is wrong to give addicts false hope by implying that these institutions are competent.

Then very, very subtly he slips in the remark " drug addiction is a secondary effect of an underlying problem."e

If as he has implied through the article here he uses the word addict to include alcoholics then he joins the raging world-wide debate, namely: does an alcoholic drink because of underlying psychological problems or because of his disease - alcoholism?

As a recovering alcoholic who apart from Gods grace, I am only here because of hope on the part of people who never gave up since they knew I had a disease and that there were places in Kenya where I could go for help.

They knew this because they had been there themselves for the same problem. They in turn had been given hope by others who had been there before them. They are one big, happy, anonymous family not known to the public at large.

After leaving the center where I was in Asumbi, where you undergo a drug free form of treatment (based on international standards, I might add) I decided that as a trained journalist and producer, I would go public about my disease so as to help create awareness among the youth on the dangers of alcohol and drug abuse.

I felt the good which could be achieved by going public by far out-weighted the negative aspects of making this admission given the stigma attached to this disease.

But it would also give a message of hope to those caught up in its tentacles, that there was a way out.

I, who only a short while ago was deemed hopeless and lost in the chang’aa, could make a complete turnaround, then others out there too can achieve the same. There are hundreds of others out there quietly doing the same thing I am - giving the message of hope.

Thus for Dr. Achoki to callously send out a message that boils down to saying there is no hope and nowhere to go because facilities in Kenya are staffed by " quacks" who subject their " victims" to "raw treatment" and then "expect them to live" is extremely irresponsible to say the least.

It is going against the message we have been trying to get to families of alcoholics and drug addicts that there are places to go for rehabilitation.

It is negating the work of selfless people who tireless run rehabilitation centers in Kenya.

They often work under difficult conditions and in the face of acute denial that the problem exists. But worst of all it is to stifle an addict’s or alcohol’s opinion until they lose hope.

For with no hope they continue to use the substances that they crave and ultimately die.

There is help available now. It starts simply by admitting there is a problem and that you need help.

David Ogot Snr.
Recovering Alcoholic.

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