FITNESS THERAPY. A group of Recovering Persons Who Used Drugs (RPWUDs) undergo health and fitness therapy under the supervision of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in this undated photo. The DSWD on Thursday (April 25, 2024) said 3,390 RPWUDs have been reintegrated into their families and communities through its Yakap Bayan Program since 2021. (DSWD photo)
MANILA – A total of 8,390 Recovering Persons Who Used Drugs (RPWUDs) have been reintegrated into their families and communities since 2021 through the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Yakap Bayan Program (YBP), spokesperson Irene Dumlao said on Thursday.
Dumlao said the YBP provided RPWUDs with aftercare and eventual social reintegration services, such as relapse prevention sessions, counseling sessions, health and fitness therapy, spiritual interventions, and skills training, among others, to improve their well-being and social functioning.
“The YBP is a holistic intervention of the DSWD which adopts human rights-based approaches to assist RPWUDs, their families and communities toward recovery,” Dumlao, assistant secretary for Disaster Response Management Group (DRMG), said in a news release.
To date, 133 local government units (LGUs) across the country have partnered with the DSWD for the replication of the YBP in their respective localities.
“An increase in the number of implementing LGUs is expected within the year since the YBP has been institutionalized in January as a regular program of the DSWD through its Operations Group,” she said.
Dumlao said the replication of the YBP in the local levels will contribute to the drug-demand reduction campaign of the national government.
The RPWUDs in their locality will have the opportunity to better themselves and become productive members of their community and even can become local leaders, she added.
To ensure the effectiveness, responsiveness, efficiency, and sustainability in addressing the needs of RPWUDs, Dumlao said the DSWD has partnered with the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) and began the rollout of YBP training with LGUs in the different regions in the country.
“We want to make sure that LGUs have advanced knowledge and skill sets to implement the program and provide necessary assistance to RPWUDs,” she said.
The YBP is a holistic intervention of the DSWD which adopts human rights-based approaches to assist RPWUDs, their families and communities toward recovery.
The training will be initially conducted in Regions 1 (Ilocos), 2 (Cagayan Valley), 6 (Western Visayas), 11 (Davao), and Caraga from April to June 2024. (PNA)
