Drug abuse creates niche market for victim care
View(s):Drug abuse has taken its toll in Sri Lanka to such an extent that apart from the over 1400 Sri Lankans that sought treatment in 2015, some locals are now flying overseas for help creating a new market segment that Seasons Lanka has entered in to provide customised care to these victims.
Certis Lanka’s home nursing arm has expanded its operations and will open its newly established facilitySeasons Lanka in Waskaduwa, Kalutara on Wednesday with services provided by its Australian partner Seasons Hader Group, Certis Lanka Business Development Director Jeevaka Wijesinghe told the Business Times.
“We found out that a lot of Sri Lankans do travel aboard for treatment to countries like Thailand, Malaysia and even Europe,” he said.
It is this segment that Certis Lanka hopes to attract by offering services on home soil with the hope that parents might be assured of their children’s whereabouts while undergoing treatment here rather than abroad.
With a mix of local and western staff currently numbering about 15 and expected to grow with demand, Seasons Lanka will be running the services through their own well designed programmes.
Seasons Lanka offers a holistic, multifaceted range of treatment services; full medical assessment; individual counseling sessions; group education sessions; alternative therapies; yoga sessions and beach fitness session; 24×7 dedicated personal support staff; in-house meals; personal housekeeping; and weekend recreation and leisure activities.
Sri Lanka’s available facilities run by the government, NGOs, Police and Prisons in addition to a number of unrecorded ones have housed 1482 drug abuse victims seeking treatment in 2015 alone and 1646 in 2014, according to government data.
Seasons Lanka Client Liaison Co-ordinator Justin Nolan, a former addict who has now been rehabilitated at the Seasons facility in Australia, said plans are underway to market the services in Sri Lanka to clients from countries like India and the Maldives, he noted.
Seasons Lanka carries out programmes from 28 to 90 days and costs can range between Rs.615, 000 to Rs.1.5 million. (SD)