Nueva Ecija drug rehab center opens in November

The government’s new rehabilitation facility for drug users will begin receiving patients next month, Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial said yesterday.

Ubial said 1 to 2 percent of some 790,000 drug users who have surrendered to authorities would need residential rehabilitation or in-patient care. Some of them could be taken in at the new facility, he said.

The new 100,000-square-meter drug facility in Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija, which is already being checked by health workers, is near its completion, she said in a press briefing in Malacañang.

Ubial said the facility has a 10,000-patient capacity, but 2,500 beds have been initially made available.

The facility was donated by Chinese philanthropist Huang Rulun.

The government has also received a commitment from a local private corporation to donate furniture for the rehabilitation center.

According to Ubial, doctors of local government units would determine if the drug dependent would need in-patient, out-patient or community-based treatment.

Those who would be confined to the rehabilitation facility would also be assessed and asked to pay according to their capacity. Some of them would get free treatment, with the government shouldering their expenses, she said.