Sdružení Podané ruce, o.s. - Prevention and Treatment of Drug Addiction

Afghanistan is a country where Taliban rules no more and, officially, a warfree status is kept, but poverty resulting from many years of war is noticeable everywhere. The country suffers from a shortage of water, poor infrastructure, low education level and non-functioning health service. Rehabilitation of destroyed or damaged buildings and facilities, and improvement of life and social conditions of the population continue at a very slow pace.

Afghanistan is also a country with the highest opium production in the world (sometimes claimed to be up to 87 p.c. of the world production) and a big number of drug addicts live there. Despite of this, virtually no drug services existed in the country for a long time. The drug issues were only dealt with marginally by one hospital in the country, located in Kabul. But this hospital also lacked necessary experience, information and equipment for this work.

In 2004, the "Breaking the Circle" project started to be implemented in Afghanistan. It aimed at helping to develop services for drug addicts. The project, co-funded by the European Union with a grant amounting to Euro 270,000, was realized by the Association Podané ruce in co-operation with the Civic Association Sananim, Civic Association Berkat, Italian NGO CEiS (Centro Italiano di Solidarieta) and humanitarian organization VARA.

The Association Podané ruce is a non-governmental organization whose mission is to help people solve their drug-related problems. The objective of the Association is to prevent this problem and to protect the society from potential negative consequences of habit-forming substances abuse. The programmes implemented by the Association focus on children and young people who have not met drugs or "only" experiment with them yet (education and prevention programmes) and on adult users. The goal is to help long-term drug users who want to change their lifestyle to a greater or lesser extent.

Several times a year, the Association sent its specialists to Afghanistan, who focused mainly on education of social workers, doctors and psychologists in the Kabul hospital. The goal was to build up basic services for drug addicts with regard to the situation in the country. There are less intravenous drug users in Afghanistan, with a majority smoking the drugs. Therefore, the preventive programme had to be designed differently than in the Czech Republic. Afghan psychiatrists also started to come for study stays to the facilities in the Czech Republic to acquire an idea how individual programmes function.

The next step of the programme was to increase awareness of opium as a highly addictive substance. Due to shortage of medicaments, opium is often the only pain-killer, often given to children as well. In May 2006, the Association Podané ruce prepared an enlightening campaign, in which also Muslim clergymen participated. They learned how to use simple visuals to improve awareness of opium dangers and possibilities of treatment among illiterate people.

Therapeutic programmes for drug addiction treatment in the Czech Republic include work in protected workshops. This is mainly because one of the factors of successful treatment is the client´s return to the society, which requires re-learning of work habits, re-qualification and communication with the client in the framework of programmes of supported employment. Work therapy plays an important role in this process. In Afghanistan, opium production and smuggling is nearly the only - and very dangerous - method of earning one´s living. Many people would like to change their situation, but chances are scarce. Protected workshops for former drug users were therefore included in the development of drug services in Kabul, with the help of the humanitarian organization VARA and Civic Association Berkat. The workshops were inspired by the country´s traditions; the clients manufacture small decorative leather objects and learn to weave traditional carpets.

The project also aimed at increasing the people´s literacy; within a therapeutic programme, the centre clients learn to read and write, they may also learn basic PC skills, the basics of economy and marketing. The goal is to develop the potential of the local people and to let them gradually manage the workshops by themselves so that drug services in Afghanistan could start functioning independently, without co-operation from other countries.

On a long-term basis, the mental hospital in Kabul which takes care of drug addicts have faced shortage of medicaments, bedding, specialised literature, clean water and electric power. The "Breaking the Circle" project brought at least a partial solution of the situation. In the framework of the two-year project, funds were allocated for medicaments and necessary equipment of the hospital. The Association Podané ruce purchased a generator for the hospital and paid its operation throughout the project duration.

"Breaking the Circle" works with people who have decided to change their lives and to solve their drug problem in a country where drugs and drug business are a basic way of earning the living for many people and it is accepted as such by the local society. The two-year project has ended in Afghanistan, but the work in this drug country has merely started...



The text was co-funded by the European Union. The contents of this text are the sole responsibility of SPR and under no circumstances may be construed as expressing the opinion of the European Union.

Programs and Care

• Drop-in Centers
• Outreach Programs
• Primary Prevention Centers
• Drug Services in Prison
• Out-patient Psychiatric Clinics
• Other Centers and Programs
• Toxi Moralita tour
• Eikón - Icon Production and Sale
• Low-threshold Clubs
• Pasage - Employment Agency
• Doléčovací centrum
• Duchovně pastorační služba
• Internetová poradna
• Psychoterapeutické sanatorium