By Brian Jules Campued
A total of 8,390 Recovering Persons Who Used Drugs (RPWUDs) have been reintegrated into their families and communities since 2021, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said on Thursday.
In a news release, Assistant Secretary for Disaster Response Management Group Irene Dumlao said the DSWD’s Yakap Bayan Program (YBP) provided RPWUDs with aftercare and eventual social reintegration services to improve their well-being and social functioning.
These services include relapse prevention sessions, counseling sessions, health and fitness therapy, spiritual interventions, and skills training, among others.
“The YBP is a holistic intervention of the DSWD which adopts human-rights based approaches to assist RPWUDs, their families and communities toward recovery,” Dumlao, who is also DSWD spokesperson, said.
She noted that replicating the YBP at the local level will contribute to the drug-demand reduction campaign of the government, with 133 local government units (LGUs) nationwide already partnered with the DSWD to implement the program in their respective localities.
“An increase in the number of implementing LGUs is expected within the year since the YBP has been institutionalized in January as a regular program of the DSWD through its Operations Group,” Dumlao said.
“The RPWUDs in their locality will have the opportunity to better themselves and become productive members of their community, and even become local leaders,” she added.
The DSWD has also partnered with the Dangerous Drugs Board to ensure robust service by conducting YBP training with LGUs in the different regions in the country.
The training is set to be conducted in the regions of Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Western Visayas, Davao, and Caraga from April to June 2024.
“We want to make sure that LGUs have advanced knowledge and skill sets to implement the program and provide necessary assistance to RPWUDs,” Dumlao said. – avds
