Uzbekistan approves program of measures for development of narcological service

According to the press service of the Ministry of Health, a program of measures has been approved for the further development of the narcological service in Uzbekistan for 2022-2026, the main parameters for equipping (retrofitting) narcological institutions for 2022-2023. A reserve of additional places in narcological dispensaries for voluntary and compulsory treatment of drug addicts has been approved until the end of 2022.

The following proposals of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Internal Affairs to improve the procedure for compulsory treatment of drug addicts have been approved:

-  to give the right to internal affairs bodies on their own initiative to prepare and draw up documents for directing persons suffering from narcological diseases for compulsory treatment;
-  conduct all medical examinations for the compulsory treatment of persons with narcological diseases in narcological dispensaries, and, if necessary, in other institutions;
-  create real-time access to information about free beds in drug treatment dispensaries.

Now cases of compulsory treatment of patients can be sent to the courts electronically and considered in courts via videoconferencing.

The Ministry of Health, together with the Ministry of Internal Affairs, is introducing a procedure for medical examination of persons on probation, delivered by law enforcement agencies to narcological dispensaries or district (city) medical institutions for the presence of alcohol, drugs or other intoxication.