Saudi Gazette report JEDDAH — Al-Amal hospital in Jeddah receives around 30 female drug addicts seeking treatment every month, according to Dr. Khaled Al-Oufi, the hospital's medical director. Al-Amal (Hope), run by the Health Ministry, is a facility solely dedicated to the treatment and rehabilitation of drug addicts. It has branches in all major cities of the Kingdom. “In the outpatient clinics we receive a maximum of 300 female addicts every year. During the whole year, only about 20 women will be admitted to the hospital,” Al-Oufi said. He said the cases were mostly the same women who used to return. “Very rarely we receive new cases. This is because women usually feel ashamed to seek treatment for addiction at a rehabilitation center,” he said. Al-Oufi said Saudi society was not an exception when it comes drug addiction among females. “The only difference is that women in other countries are not ashamed of seeking treatment. Here, however, the situation is different. Our society is reserved and conservative. Women do not feel secure to seek treatment in such circumstances. They are held back by what they call ‘social stigma',” he said. Al-Oufi attributed the phenomenon to the lack of awareness among Saudi women and said addicts should not shy away from seeking treatment as they will be assured of complete secrecy. He said the small number of addicts seeking treatment does not mean there are no female drug users in the country. “The social norms and the fear of some families from revealing that they have a woman addict among them make these families shy away from taking their women addicts to the hospital,” he said. He said that the Health Affairs would soon launch a comprehensive awareness campaign targeting working women and female students to enlighten them about the hazards of drugs and to allay their fears of seeking treatment whenever needed. Al-Oufi said the campaign will include a “curative team” that will focus on fighting smoking as a first step to curb drug abuse.
