MANDAUE City has recorded a significant drop in the number of government personnel testing positive for substance abuse in 2024, reflecting the success of its anti-drug initiatives.The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Office (SAMHSO) reported that only 13 individuals tested positive for drug use this year, a slight decline from 15 in 2023. These cases were identified through random drug tests conducted across 47 agencies, including city offices and barangays, over the past two years.
Ebenezer Daryl Manzano, head of SAMHSO, said that he cannot disclose the identities of the individuals and the agencies they belong to since these are confidential to protect their privacy and the reputation of the departments involved. “We generalized it for the confidentiality of the personnel and their well-being,” Manzano told SunStar Cebu on Saturday, Dec. 28.The 13 personnel have undergone drug dependency examinations with the SAMHSO’s physicians accredited by the Department of Health for appropriate intervention.Manzano added that most of the employees who tested positive are job-order workers.“Usually, those who test positive are job order employees, considering that their salaries aren’t very high and their positions aren’t high-ranking either,” he said in Cebuano, adding the economic challenges as a potential factor in substance use among lower-ranking employees.The random drug tests, conducted over one to two days per department depending on its size, targeted the detection of illegal drugs, including marijuana.Twelve of the 13 personnel who tested positive this year voluntarily committed to treatment and six-month rehabilitation programs facilitated by SAMHSO. Manzano attributed the decline in positive cases to the effectiveness of the City’s treatment and rehabilitation programs. “The treatment and rehabilitation program is effective because the number of drug-positive personnel has decreased,” he said
DRUG ABUSE MENTAL HEALTH REHABILITATION GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES MANDAUE CITY
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