I think the headline, as often occurs, does not reflect the content. The text makes it clear it is not drug counselling. It is training for "drug addicts (sic), health staff and counsellors at rehabilitation centres"
Good on Dr Gyaw for offering both phone counselling and online training
Is abstinence included in the harm reduction training?
Jamie
++++++++++++++++++
Local non-profit to offer drug counselling online
Aung Phay Kyi Soe
Myanmar Times
12 December 2019
A local non-governmental organisation (NGO) will offer online counselling for drug addicts in seven townships, the group said.
The Substance Abuse Research Association said it will test the programme in six townships in Kachin State and one in Sagaing Region, said U Gyaw Htet Doe, technical director of the NGO.
“We already offer counselling by telephone in these townships,” he said. “We will start the online counselling in 2020 using the Zoom Cloud meeting application.”
The programme will educate and train drug addicts, health staff and counsellors at rehabilitation centres in the seven townships.
The training, based on the guidelines of the World Health Organization, will include preventing drug users from graduating to injecting drugs, referrals to drug treatment and methadone maintenance, preventing relapses, and preventing HIV infection from drug use.
Among the townships where the online counselling will be offered are Myitkyina, Mohnyin, Momauk, and Mansi in Kachin, and Banmauk in Sagaing.
The association is also conducting “harm reduction” projects in Mohnyin and Momauk in Kachin with the support of the Access to Health Fund.
With the help of the Global Fund/Save the Children NGO, the group, which has more than 200 staff, also has “harm reduction” projects in Myitkyina, Momauk, Mansi and Banmauk.
The Yangon-based association was founded in June 1999 to take the lead in introducing tools to research drug abuse and drug abuse related to HIV in Myanmar.
It advocates evidence-based approaches to preventing drug abuse, and aims to conduct research in epidemiology, prevention and intervention, with the aim of generating information for health policymakers and to set up community-based programmes to research and prevent drug abuse and HIV.
HTTPS://WWW.MMTIMES.COM/NEWS/LOCAL-NON-PROFIT-OFFER-DRUG-COUNSELLING-ONLINE.HTML
