ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Interior and Narcotics Control was told Monday that around seven million people in Pakistan are drug addicts, while 700 people die every day in the country due to drug-related complications.

The committee, chaired by Senator Rehman Malik, was briefed by the director general (DG) of Anti Narcotics Force (ANF) on the steps undertaken by the Narcotics Control Division for the welfare of those suffering from addiction.

Briefing the committee, ANF DG Maj Gen Khawar Hanif said of an estimated seven million drug addicts in Pakistan, a staggering three million were those who used medicines without prescription.

He said drug-related deaths were greater than those caused by terrorism— the latter kills 39 each day compared to the 700 deaths from drug addiction every day.

The committee wasapprised that Pakistan had been declared a “poppy-free” country since 2011. But the area under poppy cultivation in Afghanistan has increased from 7,000 hectors to 225,000 hectors, the committee was told.

Responding to a question, the ANF DG said officials from 32 countries had been deputed in Pakistan for narcotics control but no Pakistani official had served abroad— except in Iran.

ANF has four hospitals to rehabilitate addicts, while another was being established in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Of the 33 approved ANF police stations, 28 were active, the Senate body was apprised.

The ANF DG lamented that his force received no direct funding from other sources, which resulted in complete dependence on the ministry of finance.

“But Saudi Arabia provided us with scanners that were installed at Wagha border and negotiations are ongoing