Preferences for Treatment Setting by Substance Users in India

BACKGROUND: Drug and alcohol use is a growing public health concern for India. Treatment services delivery for substance use disorders is available through three sectors viz. Government (GO) centres under Ministry of Health and FW, Non-Government (NGO) under Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and the private sector. Information on ttreatment utilisation and preferences of treatment settings by substance users are not available for India. METHODS: A performa was filled up prospectively for each consecutive new patient seeking treatment for drug/alcohol use (excluding tobacco) at De-addiction centres funded by MOH&FW; NGOs under MoSJE and private psychiatrists between 15(th) July to 15(th) October, 2011. All data available for 182 drug using persons from private, 1228 persons from 35 NGOs and 1700 persons from GO organizations were entered into SPSS-21.0, data quality checks performed and analysed. RESULTS: There was a variance in the population profile in the three sectors providing treatment delivery for substance users in India. Treatment seeking for illicit drugs (heroin, opiates and cannabis) was higher in GO sector; injection drug use was higher in NGO sector while alcohol was higher in private sector. CONCLUSIONS: Strengthening linkages between GO and NGO sector is important for an improved coverage and quality of treatment services in the country. The Andersen's Behavioural Model as theoretical background to clarify some issues in analyzing with larger datasets is warranted.