NACADA Chairman John Mututho now wants all addicts seeking to be rehabilitated by the government to be holders of the NHIF card.
Mututho said this will make it easier for them to access affordable health care and treatment, pointing out that many could not afford to pay for it.
Speaking to the press on Tuesday in Nakuru, the anti-drugs chair claimed that many of the addicts were already begging to be rehabilitated but were taken aback by the cost.
He also pointed out that the government was still in the process of importing implants that would be inserted in the addicts body for a period of three months. This will help in reducing the urge by the addicts to use drugs.
According to him, at least 3000 people have succumbed to alcohol related complications in the last three years.
“There is an urgent need to seek treatment from them and hence we are embarking in a project that will see them totally rehabilitated and becoming important members of the society,” he added
He also appealed to the authorities to release drug and alcohol addicts held in various police cells and sentenced by the law courts released
Mututho claimed that they were “sick” and needed rehabilitation.
“Holding them in such condition is what has contributed greatly to the increased cases of people dying from drug withdrawal symptoms,” said Mututho
He lamented that many people had died in the police custody following their arrest pointed out that many addicts died of trauma