National Award Conferred upon PIMS for Anti-Drug Initiative

President of India on 26-June-2018 confers the National Award-2018 to Punjab Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), Jalandhar in the category of ‘Best Educational Institution’ for recognition of its outstanding and exemplary services in the field of Prevention of Alcoholism and Substance (Drug) Abuse in the state of Punjab. PIMS de-addiction OPD caters to an average of 350 cases per month. In order to reach out to larger population, Department of Psychiatry and Department of Community Medicine, PIMS jointly started a campaign- ‘Nasha Mukti Abhiyan’ in 2015 wherein 15 villages in the vicinity of Jalandhar were adopted with an aim to make their village drug free.
Under this campaign, free medical check-ups were provided along with psychiatric counseling, Health Talks were delivered in community and schools on topics like Types of Illicit Drugs, Harmful Effects of Drugs on Health, Family and Community, Methods of Prevention and Knowledge regarding Referral Centres etc. 57 Nukkad Nataks were organized for sensitizing the public about the drug abuse, performed by PIMS MBBS students. The intent of the campaign was to decrease the overall level of substance abuse in the concerned villages and increase the awareness regarding harmful effects of substance abuse.