The Unnatural Disaster in Asia

Drug Use and Related Health Conditions Take More Lives than Tsunami Every Year

While the earthquake and tsunami death tolls in southern Asia now top 150,000, there is an ongoing crisis in the region and the world that takes many more lives each year.  The problem is alcohol and other drug use and its associated health problems, which according to an international study released in Australia kills an estimated seven million people per year.

Swiss professor Jurgen Rehm of the country's Addiction Research Institute credits the massive numbers with increased use and availability of addictive substances in highly populated areas of Southeast Asia. 

A major factor in the overall death toll is the spread of disease through substance abuse.  The United Nations reports the estimated number of injecting drug users in India alone has reached half a million.  Needle sharing among IV drug users is one of the fastest ways to spread diseases such as HIV/AIDS and hepatitis.

The global alliance indicated that injecting drug use is driving the HIV epidemic in Indonesia. HIV prevalence among injecting drug users increased from 16% to 48% between 1999 and 2003 and the overall death toll from HIV/AIDS in southern Asia was estimated to be over 400,000 in 2001.

Heroin is prevalent in that part of the world due to its closeness to the opium poppy cultivation in the Golden Triangle and Afghanistan, but the increase of methamphetamine use is also alarming.

Most countries of the region focus their efforts on reducing the supply of drugs, which has yet to make enough of an impact and the shift toward reducing the demand must take place.  This includes providing more effective drug rehabilitation and prevention services to the area.

The Narconon® Drug Rehabilitation and Education Program is dedicated to eradicating substance abuse worldwide, and through its international office in Los Angeles has targeted recent efforts in Asia as well as the United States.  Representatives from Narconon International have introduced its proven effective programs to several countries in the region and resources are being connected to establish rehabilitation and education centers in multiple countries.

Narconon Arrowhead is the largest center in the network and is also the international training center, where individuals from around the country and the world learn how to deliver the successful drug-free methodology based on the research and discoveries of American author and humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard. 

Through this non-traditional approach Narconon Arrowhead has achieved a success rate of approximately 70% for helping people overcome addiction.  Programs such as this are desperately needed in southern Asia as well as worldwide and more government funding in this area would help to improve the overall statistics.

For more information on this highly successful approach or to get help for a loved one in need, contact Narconon Arrowhead today at 1-800-468-6933 or visit www.stopaddiction.com. 

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