Azernews.Az

By Vugar Khalilov

Azerbaijani Narcology Center’s Director General Orkhan Jafarov has stressed a growing tendency in the number of drug users in the country compared to 2021, Trend has reported.

Jafarov noted that the total number of registered drug users in 2019 was 32,921, in 2020 - 33,788, and in 2021 this figure amounted to 34,602.

"The number of women and teenagers suffering from drug addiction in Azerbaijan is many times less than men. If we look at the statistics, we can see that 641 women and nine teenagers were registered in 2019, 618 women and nine teenagers in 2020, and 566 women and 14 teenagers in 2021, respectively,” he underlined.

In 2021, 4,789 people were deregistered, including 4,530 from dispensaries and 259 from prophylactic treatment, according to Jafarov.

He emphasized that drug abuse weakens human immunity, increasing the risk of contracting AIDS and other infectious diseases.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, which is now the number one scourge of mankind, drug users were at high risk. At the same time, antisocial behaviour can lead to the spread of infection (non-compliance with the quarantine regime)," he said.

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