About 70 percent of phone calls received by the National Committee for Narcotics Control (NCNC) are from women, either wives or mothers, seeking treatment for their drug-addict relatives, a conference was told in Riyadh recently.

The three-day conference was organized by the Saudi Center for Studies on Prevention of Drugs and Psychotropic Substances at Imam Mohammed bin Saud Islamic University (IMSIU).

Abdul Ilah bin Mohammed Al-Sharif, Secretary General of the NCNC, said there is significant cooperation by the NCNC partners from various government and private sector agencies.

Nazar Al-Salih, an adviser at NCNC, said preventive action often requires rehabilitation and training while dealing with drug prevention issues.

Abdulrahman bin Mohammed Asiri, Dean of the Saudi Center for Studies and Research on Prevention of Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, said prevention is the most pressing issue.

He said scientific studies in various countries have proved that prevention is aimed at achieving self-control of the individual and development of his personal abilities to protect his health and psychological abilities from any negative impact arising from using drugs.

Anwar Makeen, supervisor of the medical research center and head of family and community medicine department at the Faculty of Medicine,Jazan University, said the objective of the program was to reach a plan for preventive action in the Kingdom, which included different and distinct elements, indicating that the lack of qualified and trained staff is one of the main obstacles in achieving the goal.