Treatment and rehabilitation for illicit drug users in the Philippines: a review of policy and service arrangement
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Abstract
Drug use disorders remain a social and political concern in the Philippines despite the promulgation of a policy on drug treatment and rehabilitation in 1972. This study reviewed and discussed the Philippine drug treatment and rehabilitation policy through the comparison of formal policy documents promulgated between 2002 and 2019 (n = 23) with dimensions on drug abuse treatment and rehabilitation identified by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. The local policy can account for all principal and subsidiary domains of drug treatment and rehabilitation. The most well-articulated and explicated domains were (a) strategic definitions and principles, (b) legal and regulatory background and (c) development and implementation of an effective treatment strategy. Provisions regarding the rights and duties of treatment participants were few and general in scope. As a growing area of focus by practitioners and academics in the local and regional areas, the results of this analysis may serve as a starting point for a more thorough examination of the Philippine drug rehabilitation and treatment policy to inform policy review and revision.
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