Roadtown, Tortola - Question 1 Mr. Speaker, would the Honourable Minister of Health and Social Development please inform this Honourable House of:
a) the number of persons who reside in the Adina Donovan Home; and

(b) whether any progress has been made on the location of a site for a new home for the elderly?

Answer
(a) Mr. Speaker, there are currently thirty-five (35) persons residing in the Adina Donovan Home -eighteen males and seventeen females.

(b) With regard to progress being made on the location of a site for a new home for the elderly, a Search Committee comprised of representatives from the Ministry of Health and Social Development, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Natural Resources and Labour, the Adina Donovan Home, the Social Development Department, and Town and Country Planning Department, was established in November of 2008 to identify suitable sites.  Mr. Speaker, the Committee has been working diligently on this matter and is expected to submit its findings to the Ministry of Health and Social Development by the end of January 2009.

 
Question 2
Mr. Speaker, would the Honourable Minister of Health and Social Development please inform this Honourable House of:
(a) the present number of clients, both in-patient and out-patient, of the Sandy Lane Centre;

(b) the number of persons who have enrolled in the drug recovery programme on a yearly basis over the past five years; and
(c) the relapse rate of persons who have been enrolled during the past five years?

Answer
(a) Mr. Speaker the number of clients of the Sandy Lane Centre is thirty-seven (37).   Twenty-two (22) are in-patients and fifteen (15) are out-patients;
(b) Mr. Speaker, the number of persons who have enrolled in the drug recovery programme on a yearly basis over the past five years is as follows:
2004 79
2005 65
2006 58
2007 51
2008 49
(c)   The relapse rate of persons, Mr. Speaker, who have been enrolled during the past five years at the Sandy Lane Centre, is approximately 40 -50 %. This is in keeping with international standards and only refers to clients who attend Sandy Lane consistently for treatment and not those who attend less than four sessions.  It is important to remember that addiction is an illness that is fraught with relapses, and that relapse can also be used as part of recovery.  To base a program’s success or failure on how many relapses took place in a year is to do that program a dis-service. For one year the relapse rate can be 65% and the next year it may drop to 40% all due to the motivation and readiness of the clients to change.

Question 3
Mr. Speaker, would the Honourable Minister of Health and Social Development please inform this Honourable House of the current plans of the National Drug Advisory Council to control the inflow and abuse of illegal drugs in the Territory?

Answer
Mr. Speaker, the term of office of the membership of the National Drug Advisory Council expired at the end of January 2005 and no appointments were made subsequently.  The necessary action is currently being taken to appoint a National Drug Advisory Council before the end of January 2009.  Once the new Council has been appointed and functioning, Mr. Speaker, I will act on its recommendations to control the inflow and abuse of illegal drugs in the Territory.

The National Drug and Advisory Council was in fact allowed to lapse after January 2005, and the suggestion made by the National Drug and Advisory Council to the Ministry in June 2004 to amend the Drugs (Prevention of Misuse) Act was not followed up.

Mr Speaker, the Drug (Prevention of Misuse) Act under which the National Drugs and Advisory Council is set up was passed in 1988 and is in need of revision.  I will in the coming months be presenting legislation on this matter to this Honourable House.