A new rehabilitation centre for drug users will open in Thessaloniki after the September 16 elections, with the capacity to offer treatment to more than 300 people, according to the Organization Against Drugs (OKANA).

OKANA President Costis Ballas said yesterday the new unit will operate at the AHEPA hospital.

At present, there are 3,000 people on Athens’s waiting lists that extend up to four years, according to Ballas.

The corresponding lists in Thessaloniki have around 750 names and a waiting period of three years, he added.

The government has said it will restructure OKANA in a bid to further increase its efficiency and make it more effective in dealing with the country’s growing drug problem. Presenting the 2007-2009 plan in June, Health Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos said that units offering drug-replacement therapy will be incorporated in hospitals across the country as part of plans to link them with the primary healthcare system.

The plans include 15 quick steps that ensure the right to therapy and slash time on waiting lists.