Asian Recovery Symposium
By Dr.Fourkan Ali
Every year, the Colombo Plan Drug Advisory Programme marks
the celebration of the accomplishments of recovering substance abusers
worldwide by organising the Asian Recovery Symposia. The challenges and
frustrations faced by recovering persons on the road to recovery have often
gone unnoticed by the general public. Their struggles in determining what
recovery means for them, what life after treatment means, the uphill struggle
of combating their health altering habit through treatment, and re-integrating
themselves back into society are major accomplishments to be acknowledged.
The Asian Recovery Symposium serves to provide a platform in
communicating the message that treatment works. It will provide recovering
persons with an opportunity to share their stories of success and for concerned
others/co-dependents to learn about the facts on treatment and recovery and
their importance in the recovery process.
The symposium highlights the actions taken in the treatment
field in Asia and the Pacific to encourage more people to seek treatment and to
educate the general public about addiction and their role in communicating the
message that treatment and recovery are within everyone’s reach.
Since the inception of the Asian Recovery Symposium in
Pattaya, Thailand, back in 2004, the Asian Recovery Symposia have drawn many
recovering people and their codependents from member countries in the Asia
Pacific region to be part of the network. The Second Asian Recovery Symposium
was held at Sri Lanka in 2005, 3rd in Philippine 2008, 4th was held in Kuala
Lumpur in 2009 and the 5th was held in Indonesia in 2010.
The objectives of the Asian Recovery Symposia are to promote
the societal benefits of addiction treatment, laud the contributions of
treatment providers and promote the message that recovery from substance abuse
disorders in all its forms is possible. It is also to celebrate people in
recovery who have overcome stigma, denial, and other barriers to treatment and
as a result are leading healthy and productive lives in recovery. The Symposia
would also educate the concerned family members or codependents on family
therapy that they must travel the recovery journeys together with their loved
ones to achieve sobriety.
This symposia helps to eradicate the stigma of addiction
from the society and also share the success stories of many fully recovered
persons that often go unnoticed by their communities. Special workshop sessions
relating to development of family support groups, life skills enhancement and
relapse prevention are conducted by CPDAP resource persons for the benefit of
all participants in the symposia.
The last Asian Recovery Symposium was held at Jakarta,
Indonesia from 6 to 8 December 2010 with its theme: “Recovery: Back to Basics”.
A total of 253 participants comprising recovering persons, family members,
service providers, counsellors and policy makers from 16 member countries
unanimously evaluated the symposium as one of the best attended and most
effective programme in the Recovery scenario.
Sources: US NEWS
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