Hospitalization places in Santa Fe increased by 90%, going from 356 to 667

The Agency for the Prevention of Drug Use (Aprecod) began a survey in the provincial territory with the objective of have an accurate overview of the situation regarding problematic consumption of legal and illegal substances – along with other addictive behaviors.

It is currently about one of the main socio-health problems, and presents exponential growth over time. Likewise, it established measures that made it possible to increase care spaces and accelerate diagnostic processes.

In this regard, the organization recalled that the Province does not have its own data because the previous government administration did not create the Provincial Observatory of Problematic Consumption (OPCP), so the latest data available is from 2022 and They correspond to a national survey prepared by the Secretariat of Comprehensive Drug Policies of the Argentine Nation (Sedronar), which cannot be extrapolated to the entire population, so they are informative figures.

This Sedronar report indicates that the most consumed substances are alcohol, tobacco and marijuana, followed by tranquilizers and cocaine, The age group of 25 – 34 years being the one with the highest consumption rate. The report also mentions that The beginning of alcohol and tobacco consumption is at 17 years of age, marijuana around 20 years old, and tranquilizers around 40 years old.

Regional devices

During the first six months of the current administration, Aprecod launched the OPCP – also joining the National Observatory – and ordered the strengthening of the network of approaches to problematic consumption, incorporating new outpatient, residential and inpatient devices. These are the Regional Addiction Prevention and Support Devices, which provide advice, attention, support and care to those who are experiencing direct and indirect consumption problems. They receive financing and technical assistance from the provincial government, while local governments manage them and provide human, material and real estate resources.

These devices are ambulatory (day centers or outpatient clinics), residential and inpatient, and in six months they allowed increase by more than 90% the number of care places in all types, which went from the 356 last December to the current 667, and new places continue to be added.

Likewise, these reinforcements were not only added in the most populated cities, but these boarding networks were also incorporated in areas where this problem was completely neglected, such as in the north of the province. Currently, throughout the territory there are 110 devices distributed in 11 departments.

Meanwhile, in the second half of the year, similar spaces will be added in Venado Tuerto, Rafaela, Ceres, San Javier, Villa Ocampo and San Jorge, for which $2,000 million will be invested and which will allow us to directly reach a new population. of 750,000 inhabitants.

On the other hand, Aprecod also applied changes in the strategic criteria that made the therapeutic approach more efficient, with new care protocols that reduced referral times from 72 to 24 hours, accelerating the professional evaluation and diagnosis process.

Prevention

Another of the measures arranged by Aprecod are prevention operations. In this regard, during the summer months, more than 30 popular festivals, spas, recitals and other massive events were held in 25 locations in the 19 departments of the province. Thus, more than 100,000 people were raised aware of problematic consumption. Currently, these operations are carried out in clubs, schools, and institutional settings in the public and private sectors.