AMERICA/PARAGUAY - 90% of street children use drugs: it is alarm for the most vulnerable

Asunción (Agenzia Fides) - 90% of Paraguayan children living on the streets is dependent on drugs. This is the sad reality that has emerged from a study by the National Secretariat for Childhood and Adolescence called Integral Assistance Program for children, street children and adolescents. From its first phase it seems that in Paraguay 90% of children between 12 and 16 years of age, homeless and living in vulnerable situations, has addiction problems and end up breaking up family ties to live on the street and clean car windows in order to survive. In recent months there has been an even greater number of children who sleep in the streets, markets and other places in Asunción. The analysis showed the harsh reality of the progress of drug use in youth and in many cases the subsequent refusal of the person to undergo treatment for detoxification. According to the coordinators of the Program, the main place where the young and adolescents gather is the central square of the city, known as one of the centers where the use of drugs is carried out. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 04/09/2012)