Drug Abuse Education, Umsida and Ministry of Health Hold Screening

Pic by PR Umsida

Universitas Muhammadiyah hosted the Screening of Drug Abuse Problems (Narcotics, Psychotropics, and other Addictive Substances) in Young Adults Using Assist in Surabaya City and Sidoarjo Regency.

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The activity which was held at the Mas Mansyur Hall, 7th Floor, Umsida on Wednesday, (08/28/2024) was attended by 160 participants from various backgrounds. There were Umsida students, Kerta Cendekia Health Polytechnic students, and the Sidoarjo Health Sciences College.

The screening was also attended by several invited guests, such as the Director of the Directorate of Student Affairs and Alumni (DKA) Umsida, representatives of the East Java Health Service, the IV work team for the management of drug use disorders of the Directorate of Mental Health of the Indonesian Ministry of Health, and UNICEF Indonesia representatives from East Java Province.

Umsida, which was the host, felt that the opportunity was an honor in itself. This was conveyed by Arif Senja Fitrani SKom MKom when delivering his speech.

Protecting the generation from drugs

“The trust given to Umsida is a form that we and the government do intend to protect the young generation (students),” he said.

Currently, he continued, young people find it easier to find out information about drugs and the like. Therefore, in this era that is quite vulnerable, the lecturer who is familiarly called Arif advised students to increase their faith.

We as human beings, in our respective beliefs, must strive towards a healthy life. Because our main capital in doing activities is a healthy body and soul.

“I hope that will be the main fortress. You can also gather with a positive environment that supports productivity. Hopefully this activity can help us all to avoid NAPZA,” concluded Arif in his speech.

The representative of the East Java provincial health office, Sri Suhartati MSi advised the students to answer all questions honestly during the screening process.

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“This is done for their own sake too. And we also spread a lot of screening by establishing cross-sector cooperation so that students in East Java have a healthy body and soul,” he said.

Also with the IV work team for the management of NAPZA use disorders, the Directorate of Mental Health, Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia, namely Ners Elly Hotnida Goeltom.

She said that this screening is not something to be afraid of, in fact this is a step to make the nation’s generation healthy, especially the young people.

“We want these young people to be healthy and prosperous until later. This screening is not to scare, but rather to foster enthusiasm. If we have a problem, then it must be resolved. So don’t be afraid of drug screening,” said Ners.

The Minister of Health, he said, is collaborating with many parties to socialize this. They work together to embrace and care about the health of the younger generation. Even if later there are indications, they will immediately follow up through health facilities.

He continued, “Even if there are no indications, we hope that students can become agents of change. We need the role of students in providing education regarding drug abuse in the surrounding environment, “.

Screening activities must be developed

Pic by PR Umsida

After the opening session which was continued with a seminar, the participants carried out screening which was divided into three rooms. The screening began with filling in personal data which was continued with an interview session regarding drug use.

One of the Umsida students who has participated in this screening is Febri Murdiyanto from the Mechanical Engineering study program. He, who participated in the screening with his friends, felt the benefits of this activity.

“Since the beginning, this activity has been very useful, starting from the seminar that introduced us to NAPZA, then there was screening. There were about 30 questions that I had to answer about NAPZA. Alhamdulillah, I was able to answer them fluently because I was not familiar with those things,” said the third semester student.

From this activity, the student who is familiarly called Febri hopes that activities like this will continue to be carried out to educate the younger generation about NAPZA abuse.

Author: Romadhona S.