fghanistan, known as one of the leading producers of drugs and causing health problems around the world, is experiencing the same tragedy today, despite an international effort to stamp the illegal trade out.
There are around one million Afghans suffering from drug addiction, of whom 13 percent are children and 20 percent are women, but only five percent of the drug users can get medical treatment, spokesperson of the Ministry of Public Health Kargar Noorughli told Xinhua. Aziza feeds a lump of pure opium to her 4-year-old son Omidullah. She has no education, no idea of the health risks involved in opium use, or that it is addictive. (Photo: CNN)
There are around one million Afghans suffering from drug addiction, of whom 13 percent are children and 20 percent are women, but only five percent of the drug users can get medical treatment, spokesperson of the Ministry of Public Health Kargar Noorughli told Xinhua on Monday.
According to him, about 50,000 of them use heroin, 150,000 use narcotics, more than 500,000 of them take hashish and around 180, 000 of them are taking relief drugs.
A survey on Drug Use in Afghanistan issued by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) on Jan. 20, said that rising opium prices may encourage Afghan farmers to plant more of the narcotic crop, and the poppy cultivation will spread this year, or even extend into provinces that had become poppy-free in recent years.
Over 90 percent of the world's supply of opium used to make heroin are provided by the Afghan producers, and Afghanistan is also the largest supplier of hashish, a potent cannabis resin.
According to the survey, the soaring prices are caused by market speculation that there will be shortages because of the opium blight which reduced production by half last year and the uncertainty among opium farmers regarding future cultivation due to the ongoing military operations in Afghanistan.
Poverty and high unemployment rate in Afghanistan are considered to be some of the major causes of the drug problems, which lead to crimes, loss of productivity in workplaces and