Kandahar officials have raised concern over the increasing number of female drug addicts in the province.
According to local officials, there are currently nine women being treated for drug addiction at a rehabilitation center in the province.
The women said that poverty and insecurity have driven them to using drugs.
Doctors at the rehabilitation center said the women have successfully completed one month of their two month program.
The Kandahar health department has also raised concerns over the increasing number of addicts in the province.
According to them there is an estimated 100,000 addicts in the province.
In March, public health ministry officials raised concerns about the alarmingly high number of female drug addicts in the country. According to them, at least one million women and 100,000 children are addicts.
Last year officials stated that three million people in total were addicts, but the new figure of one million female addicts could mean the total number is much higher than initially thought.
Shahpor Yusuf, the head of the anti-drug department at the public health ministry, said in March the number of child addicts was also extremely high – at about 100,000.
These children, officials said, were all below the age of 10.
Currently, there are at least 20 drug rehabilitation centers across the country that treat women and children but official said this is not enough to get rid of the growing problem.
