Punjabs Outpatient Treatment Programme Is Making Medical Health More Accessible To Drug Addicts

The Outpatient Opioid Assisted Treatment programme is a unique initiative started by the Punjab government to give neighbourhood health services to drug addicts. Today there are 193 such centers across the state. Each patient coming here is registered and given a unique ID number where their medication is tracked to ensure they don't miss a single dose. They can also get their medicines regularly from the OOAT Centre just by showing their ID.

The patients are slowly weaned off. They are given a dose of Buprenorphine which is an opioid substitute, combined with another drug called Naloxone. To further improve the retention rate of the treatment mechanism, the OOAT clinics also have the ‘Take Home Dose' service, free of cost .

Dr Preetjot Kaur, who is the Psychiatrist In-charge at the Civil Hospital in Fatehgarh Sahib tells us,

OOAT is primarily an outpatient programme. It is for somebody who comes daily to the centre to take the medicine and then goes back home. So, it is for somebody who is functional in their life, who is working, who is employed and who perhaps doesn't want the stigma of a hospital admission.

Sukhi's arrival at the centre in 2018 changed the course of his life and now, after 10 months of treatment which included medication and counselling, he has started leading a normal life. He says,

Earlier I was struggling to make ends meet. I was constantly broke. But I manage to save money now, and the best part is that I am living a happy normal life.

Harjot Singh too feels healthier. He says,

Luckily I had no withdrawal symptoms. My dosage has come down from 4 tables to 2.

This method of treatment has worked for those who are self-motivated. Patients can go to work and earn money, leading a normal life. All of this goes a long way in helping them settle back into society, into a life that has no place for drugs. More than 2,50,000 drug addicts have been treated at these clinics across the state. A massive effort by the government to ensure a drug free state.