The soaring popularity of methamphetamine – a cheap and highly addictive drug, known locally as shabu, is overburdening health services and tearing families and communities apart in Southeast Asia.
A cheap and highly addictive drug, known locally as shabu, is overburdening health services and tearing families and communities apart in Southeast AsiaErik De Castro/ Reuters
The toughest action has been taken in the Philippines, where President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs has killed over 3,000 people since he was sworn into office on 30 June.
People take a rest inside a classroom turned into a makeshift dormitory during a weekend drug rehabilitation program organised by the government of San Fernando, La Union, northern PhilippinesErik De Castro/ Reuters
Yet for a country with the highest methamphetamine usage rate in East Asia, the country has just 44 treatment facilities, all of which have a combined capacity of a mere 7,200, according to the chairman of the countries drug policy-making body, Benjamin Reyes. The centres can range from anything to support groups, led by the clergy in the predominately Catholic nation, to costly private treatment programs, charging hundreds of dollars a month, putting them out of reach of most Filipinos. Reuters photographer Erik de Castro visited several of these facilities, documenting the daily, and often strenuous routines which people must go through, with the hope of ridding themselves of the drug habit.
People exercise at Central Luzon Drug Rehabilitation Centre in Pampanga province, northern PhilippinesErik De Castro/ ReutersA man with a tattoo that reads: "You'll Never Walk Alone", is seen inside a classroom turned into a makeshift dormitory during a weekend drug rehabilitation program organised by the government of San Fernando, La Union, northern PhilippinesErik De Castro/ ReutersPeople sleep with their shirts over their heads during siesta at a dormitory for newly-arrived patients at Central Luzon Drug Rehabilitation Centre in Pampanga province, northern PhilippinesErik De Castro/ Reuters
In Olongapo, a city of 220,000 three hours north of Manila, drug users are taught carpentry skills and paid 5,000 Philippine pesos (£84, $103) a month to build wooden coffins. The caskets, made of simple plywood and painted white, are provided to the poorest families in the city who are unable to afford funeral services, government officials said.
People make coffins as part of a local government drug rehabilitation program in Olongapo city, northern PhilippinesErik De Castro/ Reuters
The Central Luzon Drug Rehabitiation Centre, located in the country's northern Pampanga province, offers a strict, yet balanced routine for drug users who enlist in the program. Another centre in San Fernando City see's users call themselves "Recovering Champions" as they take part in outdoor activities as part of a government organised program.
A newly-admitted resident has his head shaved at Central Luzon Drug Rehabilitation Centre in Pampanga province, northern PhilippinesErik De Castro/ ReutersPeople take part in a performance during a ceremony marking the completion of six months drug rehabilitation of 48 patients at Central Luzon Drug Rehabilitation Centre in Pampanga province, northern PhilippinesErik De Castro/ ReutersPeople pray inside a chapel of Central Luzon Drug Rehabilitation Centre in Pampanga province, northern PhilippinesErik De Castro/ ReutersPeople recieve computer training as part of a recovery training and livelihood project at Central Luzon Drug Rehabilitation Centre in Pampanga province, northern PhilippinesErik De Castro/ ReutersA woman puts the finishing touches on her painting inside a dormitory hall of Central Luzon Drug Rehabilitation Centre in Pampanga province, northern PhilippinesErik De Castro/ ReutersA dentist prepares to extract a tooth of a drug user at Central Luzon Drug Rehabilitation Centre in Pampanga province, northern PhilippinesErik De Castro/ ReutersA guard checks on drug users sleeping inside a dormitory hall of Central Luzon Drug Rehabilitation Centre in Pampanga province, northern PhilippinesErik De Castro/ ReutersUniforms of drug users hang outside the isolation building, housing drug dependents at Central Luzon Drug Rehabilitation Centre, in Pampanga province, northern PhilippinesErik De Castro/ Reuters
The Philippines government has recently announced plans for a new 'mega' rehab centre, which will be able to treat up to 10,000 patients – more than the 44 facilities currently available combined. The centre will be located in a military camp north of Manila, and will be funded by Chinese real estate developer Huang Rulan. The government has said it is planning four more mega treatment centres elsewhere in the country. Until then, local governments and private centres are trying to fill in the gaps.
A portrait of president Rodrigo Duterte hangs in a classroom occupied by drug users during a weekend drug rehabilitation program organised by the government of San Fernando, La Union, in northern PhilippinesErik De Castro/ ReutersPeople who call themselves "Recovering Champions" crawl on mud as part of their weekend drug rehabilitation program organised by the government of San Fernando, La Union, northern PhilippinesErik De Castro/ ReutersPeople who call themselves "Recovering Champions" are blindfolded as part of their weekend drug rehabilitation program organised by the government of San Fernando, La Union, northern PhilippinesErik De Castro/ ReutersPeople who completed six months drug rehabilitation program receive a statue of Baby Jesus or St Nino at Central Luzon Drug Rehabilitation Centre in Pampanga province, northern PhilippinesErik De Castro/ Reuters
