| It
was with great indignation I read the comments written
by the Burwood mayor, David Doust, regarding the inappropriate
use of the new community health centre planned for the
former Western Suburbs Hospital site. The residents
of Ashfield, Croydon and Burwood have been without a
local hospital for a number of years due to State government
mismanagement and the usual political lies we have become
used to.
The
chances to have a community health centre on that
site will be welcomed by many residents, and as `drug
and alcohol' (in my calculations) fits into community
health I can see no reason for it to be omitted from
the proposed centre. It is every Australian's right
to have access to the best health care possible and
this includes drug and alcohol users.
I
take offence at the description of drug users as `being
genuinely people of weak character'. Mr Doust needs
to get out and about in the community and speak to
families of these `weak characters', struggling to
keep them safe within the family unit. I have lived
in the Ashfield municipality for the last 16 years
and worked in Burwood for the past 11 years, and until
recently, a member of my family was one of those `weak
characters' who, through the help of the family and
the community-based Family Drug Support organisation,
has managed to get their life back on an even keel.
There
are not enough drug and alcohol units to cope with
the expanding problem and those that are attached
to hospitals are understaffed.
Until
now, we, as a community, have failed to protect our
youth with the drug and alcohol problem. Let's not
shut another door in their face and the face of their
families.
|
