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Drug Abuse Prevention – Programs and Education

Drug free zoneRecently, there has been a rising emphasis on the need to focus closely on drug and alcohol abuse of patients. Doctors are urged to find out if their patients are drug or alcohol users upon initial diagnosis and upon the presentation of the patients with their symptoms. It has been noted that physicians do not feel that they are competent enough to diagnose or determine the patient’s drug or alcohol addiction or dependency. Typically, when presented with early signs of drug abuse or alcoholism, majority of primary health givers would fail to diagnose the patient’s addiction or abuse.

Recognizing Drug Addiction

A study on this showed that about 40 percent of pediatricians cannot diagnose drug abuse when presented with a description of a drug addict teenage patient. When physicians were asked to give five possible diagnoses for a number of symptoms presented by a patient, they failed to add in drug addiction.

Primary care physicians should be able to recognize the symptoms of drug abuse or addiction. This should be given emphasis and taught in medical schools, during their residency programs, and in their continuing medical education studies. Physicians must be able to spot the symptoms of drug addiction primarily for drug prevention. They must be equipped with knowledge and skills in order to deal with substance abuse.

The Need to Prevent Drug Addiction through Awareness

People rely on their doctors for their health care and advice. Families trust that doctors would know the causes of any health problem; and this includes knowing that symptoms point to drug abuse. With their knowledge, physicians could help in drug prevention and they would be able to give advice on the course of treatment that a family member could pursue. There is a need to increase and develop education programs that would teach physicians to diagnose and treat drug abuse. State licensing boards must require training and education on this. With doctors knowing what’s wrong, there would be a better chance of drug prevention and treatment before the abuse worsens.

Aside from this, there must be programs intended to expand the knowledge on drug abuse and addiction. There should be publications of guidelines for evaluation of drug abuse and drug prevention. There must be conferences on the matter.

The education must be wide on its coverage. It would be better if almost everyone were educated on recognition of drug addiction and prevention. School curriculum must include units devoted to educating their students on the dangers of drug addiction. Local communities and families must also be educated on drug prevention and awareness.




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