The Ministry of Health (MOH) received today (Wednesday) the project of the Addiction Treatment & Rehabilitation Center (Recovery center) in North Al-Batinah Governorate, funded by Jusoor Foundation, after the construction phase.

The ceremony held under the patronage of H.E. Dr. Ahmed bin Mohammed Al-Saidi, Minister of Health in the presence of H.E. Sheikh Muhanna bin Saif Al-Lamki, Governor of North Al-Batinah along with the Excellences members of the National Committee for Narcotics & Psychotropic Substances Affairs (NCNPSA) and a number of senior officials from MOH and Jusoor.

The Minister of Health pointed out that the Center, which came in partnership between the Ministry of Health, Sohar Municipality and Jusoor Foundation, will be a specialized center to rehab and treat the drug addicts in the Governorate. The Minister hopes that this Center will help to take care of drug addicts and reduce the number of people infected with communicable diseases at the community level. He also thanked Jusoor, the Founding Companies and the MOH concerned officials for implementing this project.  

Dr. Mahmood bin Zahir Al-Abri, Senior Consultant and NCNPSA Rapporteur stressed that the recovery center will be a significant addition to the health and social services specialized in this field, where the number of cases recorded in the Addiction National Registry reached 6453 cases till the end of 2018. "North Al-Batinah Governorate ranked second after Muscat Governorate at the rate 15% of the total number of the cases, where this number represents only the cases that seeking treatment and does not reflect the real problem of drug addiction and abuse in the Sultanate" Dr. Mahmood said.

Omar Mohammed Al-Abri, Acting Executive Manager at Jusoor pointed out that Jusoor recognizes the importance of real partnership between the government and private sectors and the civil society, which considered as the three main pillars of the sustainable social and economic development.

Al-Abri added that Jusoor and the Founding Companies (Orpic, Vale and Sohar Aluminium) constructed the Center at an amount reached 1,611,000 Omani Riyal at an area reached 39687 m2.

The Acting Executive Manager at Jusoor said that the capacity of the Center reaches 2393 recovering persons annually. It also equipped with detoxification clinic, two recovery units contains 40 beds, as well as administration building.

The Center provides specialized services to treat and rehab the patients who suffer from drug addiction and abuse in North Al-Batinah Governorate and neighboring governorates (South al-Batinah, al-Dhahira and Al-Buraimi Governorate).

The aim of the project is to bridge the gap between the services provided by the Ministry of Health and the public sector to recover the addicts and integrate them in the society through providing the after-care and rehabilitation services, as well as activating the role of the concerned government and civil authorities to participate in rehabilitation programs. In addition to reducing the risk of relapse by focusing on improving the individual skills to change the lifestyles, enhancing the role of the civil society institutions to help the recovering addicts in order to integrate into the society, promoting independence and self-reliance.

The project, which located in the Wilayat of Sohar, has many buildings and units including admission units with a capacity of (60) beneficiaries in three buildings, psychological counseling building, training and development ballrooms, a building for professional and craft training, and a prayer room for 100-person capacity. It also has other facilities like three-storey outpatient clinics, three-storey administration building, maintenance and services building, multipurpose indoor and outdoor sports halls and others.