How mosques, schools & mohalla committees can stem J&K’s heroin & HCV crisis
The International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, celebrated on 26th June, is a global observance aimed at raising awareness about the dangers of drug abuse and the impact of the illegal drug trade on society. This day serves as a call to action for governments, organisations, and individuals to strengthen efforts to combat drug abuse, prevent substance use disorders, and disrupt the networks involved in the illicit trafficking of drugs. It also emphasises the need for comprehensive strategies to address the health, social, and economic consequences of drug abuse.
The severe drug crisis in Jammu and Kashmir (J\&K), where around 1.35 million people (8% of the population) are affected by substance abuse—mainly opioids and heroin—is alarming. The epidemic disproportionately impacts youth, with 90% of addicts aged 17–35, and heroin use has surged from 15% to 90% of cases between 2016–2023. A secondary public health crisis has emerged, with 65.1% of injecting drug users sharing syringes, leading to a 19.9% hepatitis C (HCV) prevalence. While law enforcement targets supply chains, the essay argues that civil society—through mohalla committees, NGOs, religious leaders, and schools—must lead demand reduction, destigmatization, and rehabilitation using a PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) framework for sustainable solutions. This approach is essential to restoring Kashmir’s social fabric.
PLAN: Data-driven strategy formulation and resource mapping need epidemiological reassessment and gap analysis. Civil society must first ground interventions in robust data. The 2022 Kashmir substance use survey, revealing 52,404 opioid-dependent individuals—61.2% being injectors—provides a critical baseline. Mohalla committees can map local “hotspots” using this data, identifying villages with high HCV rates or recovery deserts. Simultaneously, NGOs should audit existing resources, such as the severe shortage of inpatient beds: only two government rehabilitation centres exist in Srinagar for a population with nearly 1 million users.
Collaborative framework design, preferably with religious institutions in a traditionally modest, religious-minded society, works well in addressing social issues. Designing anti-stigma campaigns integrating Islamic prohibitions against substance use into sermons and mosque announcements is a promising approach.
We have many NGOs, but very few health education NGOs. A school curriculum focused on mental resilience, peer pressure management, and coping skills, avoiding backfire risks in younger children, is needed to develop. We, the medicos, have to come forward with medical NGOs to plan low-threshold harm reduction services (needle exchanges, OST) targeting PWID clusters in Baramulla or Kupwara. Strategic alignment of civil society actors for the PDCA phase—the mohalla committees, NGOs, religious leaders, educational institutions, law-enforcing agencies—have to be on the same page.
Civil society activation across the forefronts may be through mohalla committees—the basic terminal unit (POC, point of contact at grassroots) of our society—if it assumes proactive community responsibility, creating hyper-local awareness and early intervention. Neighbourhood groups excel in culturally nuanced engagement. They can conduct home visits using community volunteers to identify early-stage users (e.g., pharmaceutical opioid misuse) and refer them to ATFs before heroin transition. Organise sports tournaments and skill workshops to counter idleness—a key risk factor in high-unemployment regions like Pulwama or Shopian. Distribute vernacular materials explaining HCV/HIV transmission risks, using data from local outbreaks (e.g., 73% HCV in Uttar Pradesh PWID) to personalise messaging. NGOs can be roped in for scaling treatment and harm reduction.
Nonprofits must fill critical service gaps. With national opioid substitution therapy (OST) coverage below 5%, NGOs should establish mobile or expand already functioning OST clinics, especially in hot areas like rural Anantnag or Bandipore, leveraging Project Najaath’s bank partnerships for sustainability.
HCV/HIV integration is a disaster in the making—we need to wake up now. Partner with IMHANS to co-locate HCV testing at de-addiction centres, using rapid diagnostics for early detection.
Women-Centric Services are needed, as every family wants privacy and confidentiality—not to see their child identified, stigmatised, or tagged as a drug addict—and its implications on future marital proposals. Reassurance can come through creating female-only support groups addressing rising female addiction (19% of cases at Srinagar centres).
Religious leaders/preachers using the pulpit during Friday Khutbah for destigmatization and moral authority are crucial. Imams and clerics wield unmatched societal influence, especially in our traditionally modest, God-fearing society. They can issue fatwas declaring drug peddling haram, while framing addiction as a treatable condition, not a moral failure. Host “healing circles” in mosques where families share recovery stories, countering the shame that prevents treatment-seeking. Collaborate with TeleMANAS 24×7 helpline to publicise counselling as a religious duty.
Educational Institutions have to enhance their education awareness programs for prevention and resilience building in drug addiction. Schools and colleges are prevention epicentres. They must adopt the SAM Degree College Budgam-like model—police-academia partnerships for student pledges against drugs and on-campus counselling kiosks. The Directorate of Education needs to train teachers, in collaboration with the Directorate of Health, in identifying trauma symptoms—widespread in conflict zones—using IMHANS protocols to prevent self-medication. Embed life-skills modules teaching stress management via non-chemical coping strategies.
Checking, monitoring, disease surveillance, and feedback loops, real-time outcome tracking—civil society groups and concerned citizen groups like GCC must rigorously measure impact and explore gaps to fill them. Mohalla committees may use mobile apps for monthly usage surveys, detecting spikes in new synthetics like tramadol. NGOs must report HCV incidence and OST retention rates via government dashboards like the Nasha Mukt Abhiyan’s Google Sheets tracker.
PDCA feedback integration and relapse audits: When recovering addicts relapse (e.g., due to peer pressure), committees update awareness content to address specific triggers.
Overcoming treatment barriers: Where HCV or HIV testing rates lag, NGOs simplify consent procedures or deploy community phlebotomists.
Stigma metrics can be improved if religious leaders survey mosque attendees to quantify shifts in “addict” perceptions, refining sermons accordingly.
By scaling solutions and advocating corrective actions for systemic gaps to combat the drug menace, we also need to act now on the HCV emergency response. When surveillance detects clusters (e.g., 10+ HCV cases in a Kupwara mohalla), NGOs activate rapid testing/treatment camps with DAAs, bypassing bureaucratic delays.
Relapse prevention is a sector we need to work on expeditiously. After identifying poor aftercare, committees create “sober homes” with vocational training (carpentry, IT) to support reintegration.
Preventive institutionalisation: The civil society must cement successful models. Draft a “J\&K Community De-Addiction Bill” mandating mohalla committees in high-risk districts, based on Nasha Mukt Abhiyan data. Facilitate exchanges with Punjab NGOs experienced in tackling heroin epidemics.
Religious-NGO Partnerships are to be made operational. Institutionalise mosque-based counselling using TeleMANAS infrastructure.
Advocacy for structural reforms: Lobby for OST in primary health centres, citing NIMHANS-trained medical officers (25 deployed) as trainers. Demand drug-testing labs to identify new synthetics, preventing another chemical crisis, so forensic capacity has to be increased.
Observed on June 26, the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking urges global attention to the drug crisis. In Kashmir, where heroin use, HIV/HCV transmission, and trauma converge, tackling addiction requires more than policing—it demands a civil society-driven response.
A PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) model led by mohalla committees, NGOs, religious leaders, and schools fosters early detection, harm reduction, and resilience. Without intervention, injectors may triple in number. But collective action, through community vigilance, medical treatment, and destigmatisation, can offer hope and healing, restoring lives one mohalla, one act of compassion at a time.
The writer is a member of the GCC – Group of Concerned Citizens, J&K, and participated in a panel discussion with positive perception management on drug addiction.
Dr Fiaz Maqbool Fazili
dr**********@***il.com