DUSHANBE, July 28, 2010, Asia-Plus  -- According to the statistics from the Ministry of Health (MoH), the number of officially registered drug dependent people in Tajikistan fell 10 percent in the year to July 1, 2010, Ms. Bunafsha Odinayeva, the deputy director of the Drug Control Agency (DCA), remarked at a news conference in Dushanbe on July 28.

As of July 1, 2010, 7,347 drug dependent people, including 297 women, have been officially registered in the country, while as of July 1, 2009, the number of the officially registered drug dependent people in the country was 8,018, including 376 women, she said.

According to her, DCA jointly with interested ministries and departments published a workbook entitled “Preventing Narcotic Drug Use: General Recommendations” in April this year under financial support of the OSCE Office in Tajikistan        

Besides, with support from the OSCE Office in Tajikistan, the DCA has organized a number of drug prevention events in the country this year, Odinayeva said.  “Thus, we have held such events in the city of Khorog as well as Rushan and Ishkashim districts in Gorno Badakhshan,” she added.

It is to be noted that the OSCE Office in Tajikistan''s Counter-terrorism and Police Unit, established in September 2008, helps all law enforcement agencies to better combat the complex phenomenon of organized crime, drug trafficking and terrorism.  It focuses on the development of police training, structural and operational reforms and the introduction of community policing.

The Unit, in particular, assists the Drug Control Agency with the comprehensive implementation of its drug prevention campaign.  In cooperation with communities, it organizes drug prevention events with a special focus on youth.