As they are responsible for transporting people and goods, the Ministry of Health institution that fights against drugs wants to ensure that these individuals drive sober and encourage their passengers not to overdo the consumption of alcoholic beverages.
The head of the Community Intervention Department of the National Institute for the Fight against Drugs (INALUD), Rosa Contreiras, told OPAÍS yesterday that activities aimed at raising awareness and mobilizing against excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages will be particularly aimed at drivers.
“We are aware that the use of alcoholic beverages and drugs starts in the family, but this time, we want to pay more attention to drivers, as they are responsible for transporting people who go shopping during the festive season and to other destinations relating to the period”, declared the head of INALUD, for whom the choice of this class does not exclude drivers of non-motorized vehicles who provide similar services.
Rosa Contreiras understands that the preparation time for any event must be free from danger, which is why the emphasis is on drivers, whom the awareness teams hope to discourage from working while drunk or drugged. To this end, the INALUD cast highlighted in this challenge planned to hold the opening act this Tuesday, 12th, at the Escola Técnica de Saúde de Luanda, where they plan to announce all the criteria of the action.
This newspaper was able to find out that the campaign will initially be carried out on the streets of Luanda by directly approaching drivers, who will receive leaflets with content discouraging excessive alcohol consumption. This campaign will extend to all provinces of Angola, shortly after its launch, with a preference for approaching “national roads”, since, at this stage of the year, trips occur more frequently.
Therefore, in addition to the Traffic Police, INALUD has a partnership with the National Civil Protection and Fire Brigade, in order to guard against possible situations that require emergency assistance. The Drug Trafficking Department assigned to the Criminal Intelligence Services (SIC) is another body cited by Rosa Contreiras for this undertaking, which will also include technicians from the Ministry of Social Action, Family and Promotion of Women. In general terms, as the head of the community intervention department made a point of mentioning, the results obtained in recent years encourage the INALUD team.
But news of road accidents during the festive season worries her. “It is healthy when we evaluate and conclude that our work, year after year, is achieving satisfactory results, because we have already recovered many people who were drug addicts and some of them identified on the streets. But we would like to go through a festive season without any road accidents caused by the consumption of alcoholic beverages”, said Rosa Contreiras.
Ten years of INALUD with some ignorance
When announcing that her institution completes ten years of existence, on December 30th, the head of the Community Intervention Department recognized that many people still do not have information about the Ministry of Health (MINSA) organization, which provides guidance, support and recovery of drug addicts.
Therefore, it has committed to reinforcing the program of work involving direct contact with people, in their communities, on their paths, at their jobs, in the schools where they study, in the markets, stores and supermarkets, where they make their purchases. and sales. Finally, Rosa Contreiras recommended families to reduce the amounts of alcoholic beverages, cigarettes and other drugs in their Christmas purchasing plans, in order to have a minimally peaceful festive season.