Professor Monique Marks, Head of Urban Futures Centre at the Durban University of Technology who is also a part of deputy mayor Belinda Scott’s drug treatment program for the homeless addicts at the emergency Covid-19 shelters recently announced that eThekwini Municipality will be opening a harm reduction centre to assist homeless addicts after the lockdown which aims at reducing the harms associated with drug use.
“There would be an increase of drug-related disorders post-COVID-19 but it was not because of the virus. The reason for the increase in drug use is simply because there is a huge drug market and Durban is a port city. So, a lot of drugs coming from Afghanistan and Pakistan come in through the port and people use drugs because they have a history of trauma and disconnect which would not go away” said Marks.
“Let’s not think that this was not going to be on the rise anyway, it’s a problem that we will have had to get our heads around, and I think at least the city of Durban is taking positive steps to do that,” she said. The harm reduction centre would be located in Bellville, opposite City View and would consist of a variety of programmes aimed at reducing the harms associated with drug use.
Together with city officials, the centre would also offer the families of addicts a space to congregate and deliberate. “We are going to be having massive community consultations around what is acceptable in that space so that people are well aware of what that space would be used for before it is used,” added Marks.
Psycho-social intervention will also be provided as a means of basic medical care through a legitimate needle syringe exchange programme which has gone through a long legal and procedural City process. “It’s important because if people are sharing needles, they are also transmitting blood born illnesses to one another. This is the last thing we want in a situation like Covid-19,” said Marks.
