According the drug rehabilitation organization OKANA, about 18,000 men and 2,500 women in Greece are addicted to heroin. OKANA’s president Meni Malliori explained that over 1,200 women addicted to heroin have entered its rehabilitation program, accounting for about 15% of OKANA’s patients.
Mrs. Malliori confirmed that only in Athens is there a waiting list to enter a rehabilitation program. The waiting time has been reduced to about three and a half years, down from the seven and a half years of older times. In total, OKANA is treating 8.500 people, a significant rise from the 4,500 patients it treated a few years ago.
The new national coordination on drugs Teta Papoutsopoulou noted that “our priority is cooperation, mutual growth and solidarity between the relevant bodies”.
