Dubai: His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE, in his capacity as the Ruler of Dubai, issued a law establishing a drug treatment and rehabilitation centre.
The rehab centre, called ‘Irada’, meaning ‘will’, is dedicated to treating and rehabilitating drug addicts with the aim of supporting the UAE’s general strategy and policy to combating drug addiction and increase community awareness about their harmful effects.
The establishment of the centre also comes within the country’s health initiatives aiming to ensure the health and safety of the public and community’s immunity from harmful practices. The centre will offer treatment and rehab programmes in line with the highest international standards.
Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council, issued a resolution setting up the board of director of the Irada Drug Rehab Centre under the chairmanship of Dr Abdul Qader Al Khayyat.
Dr Ali Mohammad Shahin will serve as the deputy chairman of the centre, while the board members are Khalid Rashid Al Thani, Afra Rashid Al Basti, Ebrahim Mohammad Abdullah and Mohammad Saif Al Meqbali. The board will serve for a renewable term of three years.
The centre will assume the responsibility of laying down policies for drug treatment and rehabilitation and develop strategic plans to implement them. It is also assigned to develop specialised drug treatment and rehab programmes and a recovery-based drug treatment system.
The centre will offer treatment and rehab services for drug addicts and help reintegrate them into mainstream society after they recover. It will offer a healthy environment appropriate for in-house drug addicts and refer cases that need further treatment to specialised centres in the UAE and abroad.
The other duties are preparing highly qualified national cadres specialised in drug treatment and rehabilitation, and conducting research and studies in the field.
The centre may forge partnerships and collaborative agreements with local, regional and international organisations involved in drug treatment, rehabilitation and combating drug abuse.
It will provide support to the families of drug addicts and encourage them and increase their awareness about the need to treat and rehabilitate their sons.
