The herbal medicines provided by the National Traditional Medicine Hospital (NTMH) in Thimphu have been successful in helping people quit their alcohol and tobacco addictions.
In four years, more than 4300 people have sought medication for alcoholism from which the hospital says over 1000 people have been able to quit their addictions. The medicines were originally introduced to cure liver and lung-related diseases.
47-year-old Pema Wangda from Monggar was once an alcoholic. He was unable to give up this habit for the past 30 years. But with the help of the herbal medicines, he was able to quit drinking. He took the medication for a month after which he has clean for the past eight months.
“I tried to quit for a year but I could not. Then later I heard of this herbal medicine and I tried this medicine. Now I’ve become clean and it’s been almost eight months that I’ve been clean now. This medicine helped me a lot in quitting alcohol,” said Pema Wangda, a recovering alcoholic.
Pema’s brother Tshewang Dorji says his life has changed drastically compared to before.
“I was a student when he was an alcoholic. He was a very heavy drinker and I never thought he would be able to quit. Since I work in the indigenous hospital I came to know about the medicine. I encouraged him to take this herbal medicine and the Dungtsho also gave him counselling on the harmful effects of alcohol. After the medication, he has changed his life drastically,” Tshewang Dorji, Pema’s brother, said.
Similarly, Sangay Dorji also shares how his relatives were able to quit drinking with the help of the medicines.
“My brother was an alcoholic for the last 10 years but he couldn’t quit. My brother came to know about this medicine and asked me to get the medicine for him. This medicine has helped him in quitting alcohol. After that, even my brother-in-law who was an alcoholic asked me to bring this medicine. This medicine has helped them both in quitting alcohol,” added Sangay Dorji.
The medicines were initially prescribed to treat liver and lung-related diseases. But its effects in helping people quit addiction were discovered by Drungtsho Tandin Phub.
“Towards the end of 2015, I have been prescribing this medicine to help against addictions. Every day, a minimum of 3 people visit my chamber. So in a month, I see around 90 patients. We have a record of a minimum of 30 people in a month who could quit alcohol after taking this medicine. From 2015 till now I have prescribed these medicines to about 4,300 patients within 4 years. Out of this, around 80 % of the patients could give up alcohol. Some lived far away from Thimphu and could not continue their medication; this could be one of the probable reasons. At the same time counselling is also important,” said Dungtsho Tandin Phub, NTMH.
Dungstho Tandin Phub, however, added the medicines are just facilitators. He added the success of the medication ultimately depends on a person’s determination to quit such habits.
