A member of the Parliamentary Committee on Health, Dr. Kingsley Agyemang, has urged the government to allocate sufficient funds to combat the growing abuse of opioid drugs among the country’s youth.
Speaking during a debate on the 2025 budget in Parliament on Wednesday, March 19, the Abuakwa South MP expressed concern over the rising cases of substance abuse and its impact on young people’s mental health.
He criticized the government’s failure to reflect concrete plans for addressing the crisis in the national budget.
“Mr. Speaker, the new opioid substance is what we call ‘red.’ It is being widely abused, yet the mental health interventions promised in the NDC manifesto did not find expression in the national budget,” Dr. Agyemang stated.
He warned that the crisis poses a significant risk to the country’s future workforce, emphasizing the need for immediate financial commitment to rehabilitation programs and public awareness campaigns.
READ ALSO: