Drug abuse research hospital planned

A research centre based on the concept of a teaching hospital for treatment and research on drug abuse will be set up once the World Bank approves it.
Higher Education Minister Datuk Dr Shafie Mohd Salleh, who had visited the National Institute on Drug Abuse (Nida) in the United States, said: “Nida officials said they will help us set up our centre.
“I went to Bangkok last week to meet with World Bank officials to see if they can help us in our efforts to build this centre and they are coming here next month to discuss the matter.”
He explained that drug addicts would be treated at the centre, where research would also be carried out on drug abuse.
“It is more like a teaching hospital like the ones set up by Universiti Malaya or Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, as we want to do more than just treat addicts.
“We want our researchers to have a real life platform,” he said after launching Kolej Universiti Islam Malaysia’s (KUIM) post-graduate diploma in drug abuse.
Dr Shafie said the ministry was concerned, as there were at least 10,000 addicts in drug rehabilitation centres.
At present, only two public universities, KUIM and Universiti Malaysia Sabah, offer post-graduate diploma courses in drug abuse.
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