About 1 182 patients were treated for drug overdoses in the Pretoria Academic Hospital in 2005 and 2006, the Gauteng health department said on Monday.
"It is a high figure that illustrates a drug problem in the city that is often related to attempts to commit suicide," the Democratic Alliance's spokesman on health, Jack Bloom, said.
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The figures were disclosed by MEC of health in Gauteng, Brian Hlongwa, in a written reply from Bloom.
More females than males were treated for drug overdoses, a high number of whom overdosed on anti-depressants.
More effective plan needed>
Teenagers also tended to overdose on paracetamol, and many black patients overdosed on organophosphates, commonly found in insecticides.
Approximately 30-35 percent of these patients needed intensive or high-care treatment at a cost of about R7 000 a day.
"We need more effective prevention strategies to prevent drug abuse and suicide attempts, both to save lives and to ease the strain on our overstretched hospitals," Bloom said. –(Sapa)
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