Young people being admitted to the Murang’a County Referral Hospital has been steadily on the rise, a psychiatric expert who works there has revealed.
The hospital has been receiving over 300 youth in one month, a number which is alarming, adding that most of them are students in secondary schools and colleges.
Angela Muthoni,the expert noted that the hospital’s 20-bed ward for such patients is now full. Those admitted there are in critical stages and that they refer some to other hospitals since they cannot accommodate all of them.
The hospital’s psychiatric unit, which is the second one in Mount Kenya region, receives patients from Embu, Kirinyaga and Kiambu counties. The other unit is at the Nyeri Provincial General Hospital.
War on drugs abuse be taken to learning institutions, saying drug peddlers have come up with means to sneak in drugs to students.
“Extensive campaigns against use of drugs in secondary schools and higher learning institutions is needed to manage the vice. There seems to be cartels sneaking drugs into schools,” she said.
Last week, the National Agency for Campaign Against Drug Abuse (Nacada) raised the alarm over the increased use of Kuber in the country and proposed that the Ministry of Health to introduces regulations for drug or ban it altogether.
The agency said although the Kuber falls under the Tobacco Control Act and is legal, it has been adulterated with other hard drugs including cocaine and bhang, making it to have high addictive effects and hard to stop taking.