Britain helps fight drug abuse

Britain has announced a US $73,000 aid package to help combat drug abuse in Quetta, the capital of Pakistan’s southwestern Baluchistan province. Launching the aid package in Baluchistan on Wednesday, British High Commissioner Hilary Synnott said the aim was to educate street drug users on the problems associated with drug abuse, including a growing risk from diseases such as Hepatitis B and C and HIV. The project will fund a leading non-governmental organisation in Pakistan, Nai Zindagi, to assess the street drug culture in Quetta and to provide counselling, detoxification and rehabilitation support services. The project is part of a British government initiative to fund civil society organisations for innovative programmes supporting devolution, social exclusion, gender equality, human rights, education and HIV/AIDS.