JEDDAH, 21 June 2006 — The Ministry of Health will open a rehab center for women drug addicts in Al-Amal Hospital here before the end of 2006, a hospital official said yesterday.
“The department will offer the same facilities that are available in the hospital’s treatment center for men,” said Mohamed Al-Zahrani, a psychologist at the hospital.
The new treatment center will offer drug-abuse rehabilitation services, including counseling.
“There will be a full team of women doctors, psychologists and sociologists working in the new department,” said Dr. Muhammad Ayman Erksousi, head of the hospital’s psychiatry department.
Although there are no official figures of estimated women drug abusers in Saudi Arabia, Al-Zahrani said the hospital realized the need for a treatment facility for women of various ages in the city. The hospital currently treats women drug abusers as outpatients.
Many women refuse to admit their problem, as they are afraid to be known as drug addicts and the resulting scandals.
