Peter Ndege
Ndege, Peter; Njenga, Frank Center for Addiction Studies in Africa, Kenya; National Campaign Against Drug Abuse Authority, Kenya
Background:Despite the high prevalence of polydrug abuse particularly among youth in Kenya, no literature exists on the number of treatment and rehabilitation facilities, their modes of treatment and aftercare, relapse rates, ownership, and distribution nationally and the level of training and experience of their staff. This survey aimed at filling this gap with a view to informing the process of development of national standards and guidelines.
Methods:Using a structured questionnaire, managers of all drug abuse treatment and rehabilitation facilities in the eight provinces were interviewed by staff from the National Campaign Against Drug Abuse Authority as well as outreach teams from various service providers. These facilitators had been trained on data collection in a 1-day seminar and completed the study in 1 month. Data were analyzed using SPSS.
Results: Nairobi, the capital city, had the highest number of facilities (29%), while North Eastern province had none. Sixty percent of the facilities were residential, while all facilities in Coast province were not residential. Eighty percent of the facilities had outreach services; 91 percent of facilities were run by individuals and nongovernmental organizations, while only 9 percent were government run. Eighty-two percent of staff had a college education.
Conclusions: (1) Provision of treatment and rehabilitation services in Kenya is mainly a private sector affair. (2) Most treatment and rehabilitation facilities are residential. (3) The majority of clinical staff members have a college diploma or degree.