VietNamNet Bridge – More than 3,000 drug users were admitted to rehabilitation centres in HCM City from the beginning of the year to the end of September, an increase of 13.9 per cent against the same period last year, according to a recent report by the city's Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.

Of that figure, the number of new addicts accounted for 59 per cent, and the remaining were people who had relapsed.

During the nine-month period, 79 prostitutes were sent to the city's rehabilitation centre, a 3.7 per cent drop compared to the same period last year.

Le Van Quy, deputy head of the department's Social Evils Prevention Division, said the number of addicts from other cities and provinces accounted for half of the city's total.

More than 60 gathering places for prostitution-related activities exist in the city, with most of them disguising their services behind hotels, restaurants, karaoke bars and barber shops.

Twelve brothels were raided over the first nine months of the year, but 17 other locations emerged during the same period.

According to the report, five clinics in the city have provided methadone maintenance therapy to nearly 1,100 drug users. In September, 8,200 drug addicts and 90 prostitutes were living at public and private rehabilitation centres in the city.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News