Surveillance, prevention and control of drug abuse in hospitals

Abstract

Every citizen is morally responsible to contribute to solve the drug problem in the national front. Though we may understand that the uninformed and the naive may experiment with drugs, we do not expect patients nor hospital personnel to abuse them in the treatment environment. But hospitals are also hit by the epidemic. For long we have recognized how drug abuse adds comorbidity to medical care. But abuse of drugs by hospital personnel not only alters community expectations of health care professionals but has a tremendous impact on productivity. Here I recommend specific management strategies for the surveillance, prevention and control drug abuse within the hospital environment.