Nyaope consumption by South African youth - Reflections on the neglect of rehabilitation centres for substance use disorder: A systematic review

Abstract

There is a high incidence of substance use disorder (SUD) associated with the administration of nyaope among South African youths in  previously disadvantaged communities. Nyaope’s active  ingredient is higher grade heroin mixed with household chemical components  only known by the dealers. While the health effects of nyaope are in conclusive, the higher number of patients suffering from SUD is mainly attributed to the lack of fully functional public rehabilitation centres in the country. This study was carried out to reflect on the neglect of rehabilitation centres for people suffering from SUD. Information about the effectiveness of local rehabilitation centres in dealing with SUD patients wasreviewed based on literature published in a number of databases such  as PubMed, Science Direct, EBSCO,  and Google Scholar. A total of 8 out of 250 published research  articles from 2000 to 2023 were selected using various combinations of  keywords: “adulterated  drugs”; ‘heroin”; “Crystal meth”; “Methamphetamine”; “rehabilitation centres”; and “South African youth”. Only  scientific research articles published in English were used in the review. Findings of eligible studies were summarised in tabular  format based on the following variables:  author,sample size, type of drugs, reasonsforsubstance usage and state of the rehabilitation  centers. In South Africa, disparities in the quality of services provided by rehabilitation centres in  predominantly white communities and  those in historically disadvantaged areas were reported. The  poorly managed state of rehabilitation centres was mainly attributed to  inadequate funding and  poor human capacity. The findings implicate the need for multidimensional strategies to curb the  prevalence of  SUD among the youth.