A review meeting on the National Survey on Extent and Pattern of Substance Use was held by Thaawarchand Gehlot, Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment with the Principal Secretaries of thirteen states. The meeting was attended by Vijay Sampla, Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, G. Latha at Krishna Rao, Secretary, Department of Social. Justice and Empowerment and Nodal Officers of nineteen States appointed in connection with the National Survey.
The state governments were requested to provide support to the implementation agencies of the National Survey and facilitate the agencies in the selection of multiplier facilities interview locations for the RDS Survey for the Respondent Driven Sampling Survey. The progress made in different States for the National Survey was reviewed and the States where consultations and trainings for the Survey are still pending were directed to take appropriate measures to ensure that training/consultations for the Survey are completed as early as possible so that the data collection process is completed within stipulated time frame,
The last National Survey on Extent and Pattern of Substance Use in India was conducted in the year 2000-2001. Thereafter, no such survey has been conducted. The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has, in August 2016, assigned the task of conducting the National Survey on Extent and Pattern of Substance Use in India to the National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre (NDDTC), AIIMS, New Delhi and the report is expected by March, 2018. ‘The survey will be carried out in about 25 per cent of the districts in each state and the data collected from these districts will be extrapolated using standard statistical methods to generate estimates for the entire state/UT.
A Household Sample Survey (HSS) will be conducted in 185 districts of the country to determine the proportion of people who use substances and people who are suffering from substance use disorders. The sample requirements for this methodology are. approximately 6,00,000 eligible persons in about 1.5 Lakhs Households for the whole country. A Respondent Driven Sampling (RDS) survey will also be conducted to determine the number of substance dependent individuals in 110 districts. At every RDS site, about 600 drug dependent individuals per district will be recruited and interviewed.
Focused Thematic Studies will also be done for the special population like Homeless. Prison, transgender, Sex Worker, street children, Transport workers, Students in selected educational institutions etc. The Survey will also map the presence of services and interventions for individuals suffering from substance use disorders and identify the gaps in service delivery.
The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is the nodal Ministry for drug demand reduction. It coordinates and monitors all aspects of drug abuse prevention which include assessment of the extent of the problem, preventive action, treatment and rehabilitation of addicts, dissemination of information and public awareness. The Ministry provides community based services for the identification, treatment and rehabilitation of addicts through voluntary organizations.
