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Russian addicts get treatment in Harbin
By Li Fangchao (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-10-18 22:58
A Russian drug addict recently came to search for therapy in the Drug
Rehabilitation Centre in Harbin, capital of Northeast China's Heilongjiang
Province.
The 21-year-old woman is the second Russian patient the centre has received
since it began to taking patients from abroad in 2001 -- unprecedented in
Northeast China.
The Russian young woman came to the centre with a Chinese friend of her
mother's in mid September, Chen Zhongyan, chief-nurse of the centre, told China
Daily yesterday.
"In the beginning, she was not very co-operative, but she was soon comforted
with the assistance of the centre's nurses," Chen explained.
The rehabilitation process is going quite smoothly now. The young woman has
come through the stages of detoxification and the particular symptoms one craves
when coming off of drugs, such as becoming drenched in perspiration, shedding
tears, suffering from severe body aches and diarrhea.
"At present, she is in a fairly good physical condition except for some
emotional fluctuations. This is probably because she is alone and far from her
family in Russia and lacks communication because of the language barrier," said
Chen, who is in charge of the patient's therapy.
"She still has a mental dependence on the rehabilitation medicines now. If
she can overcome this and become more optimistic, she is expected to recuperate
by the beginning of November," the nurse said.
The centre now has a translator assigned to the woman to talk wit her each
day, and since the patient did not seem to adjust to Chinese food, her daily
meals are being purchased from the local Russian food store.
The first foreign patient the centre received was a Russian man who arrived
at the centre in December of last year. He fully recovered after taking a
two-month treatment course and returned to Russia at the beginning of this year.
He and his relatives were very satisfied with the effects of the treatment,
according to Chen.
"Drug addiction is very hard to get rid of. The rehabilitation process is
often very painful," said she, "Man usually has more advantages than woman in
the treatment process because of stronger willpower and better physical
condition."
She also stressed that mental strength is vital to helping the patients tide
over a most unbearable time in the treatment process and therefore comfort and
care from patients' families are essential for them.
Besides the Russian woman, there are three local patients receiving treatment
in the centre now. The centre has a capacity of handling as many as 30-40
patients at a time.
Founded in October 1995, the facility has enjoyed a renowned reputation with
a rehabilitation rate of about 90 per cent. The remaining 10 per cent are
heavily addicted drug abusers who return to their drug again and again even
after they sober up and are returned to society.
The rehabilitation centre boasts being the largest of its type in Northeast
China, and holds to a philosophy that treatment and research are equally
important.
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