The Bahrain health ministry is planning to set up a drug treatment and rehabilitation centre.

Prime Minister Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa ordered the medical unit to be earmarked in the 2009-10 budget, assistant under-secretary Dr Abdulhay Al Awadhi said.

He unveiled the scheme as he patronised a ceremony yesterday marking the World Anti-Drug Day.

He also revealed that the number of Bahraini drug addicts quadrupled in 2003 in a span of one year.

The rate of death due to drug overdoses also increased by 400 per cent compared to that of 2002.

Official figures also show a sharp increase - 67 per cent of drug addicts reporting to Salmaniya Medical Complex external clinics.

"The number of Bahraini drug addicts has since then continued to surge alarmingly", he said.

The beds allocated for their treatment increased from 13 to 33 under a short-term plan ending in 2005.

The number of doctors specialising in rehabilitation and treatment also rose to five from three only in the same year.

A year later, the Almoayyed drug rehabilitation unit was also opened at SMC.

Under a long-term plan to combat drug addiction, a series of laws were also passed. A National Anti-drug Committee was also set up.-TradeArabia News Service