Social services department, ‘Parents with Hope’ agree to strengthen collaboration |15 January 2014

The social services department and ‘Parents With Hope’ have agreed to work in closer collaboration in order to help ease the drug problem affecting the country.

‘Parents With Hope’ is an organisation created back in 2004 and which regroups parents of whom children have been affected by drug addiction.

This follows a meeting yesterday between the Minister for Social Affairs, Community Development and Sports Vincent Meriton and members of the organisation at chairperson Edna Jean’s residence at Hermitage.

The minister was accompanied by the principal secretary for social affairs Linda William-Melanie.

Emotional mothers whom children are suffering from drug addiction and its negative consequences, causing them to frequently fall into tears, talked about their daily ordeal which they say sometimes make them become bitter against society which they feel is not helping them enough. Sad to say, some have even lost children who have died, directly or indirectly, as a result of drug consumption.

They enumerated prostitution, homosexuality, spread of diseases such as hepatitis B and HIV/Aids, crime and heavy prison sentences as the results of drug abuse.

It is in this way that Mrs Jean summarised the situation:

“Even if they have been brought up in the normal way, once they become drug addicts they cannot be disciplined in any way. On the contrary they revert to lies and crime and we observe a quick deterioration in their health and social situation. So it is necessary to treat and heal them. If something is not done now, we will all pay the drug price and face the heavy consequences,” she said.

Together, the two parties pondered on solutions added to the de-intoxication programmes offered by the Les Cannelles Wellness Centre, Centre d’Accueil de La Rosière and other drug rehabilitation facilities. They have consequently come up with the following eventual answers: Improving the efficiency of the existing Les Cannelles Wellness Centre and opening a new one on an outlying island, a controlled system whereby methadone can be obtained from pharmacies with the supervision of the Ministry of Health and talks with young children in schools.

The mothers have added that in spite of their determination, they face other challenges such as the high price of medicine. They say that they are sometimes even victimised as they dare voice out their concerns and opinion.

The minister has understood the needs of the parents and has promised to help the association in all way possible.

He has pledged the government’s support towards the funding of the organisation through businesses’ corporate social responsibility.

As the parents sometimes feel alone, it was also agreed that a parents’ support group within the organisation will be created. The support group will propose joint activities for parents and addicts alike that will help them to help themselves.