Hospital a refuge for ailing drug users

Free specialized facility spearheading govt effort to expand services to 21 cities in Guangdong

The first hospital on the Chinese mainland that only admits drug-addicted patients is planning to expand to more than 150 beds in 2016, leading a government effort to create similar treatment facilities in all 21 prefecture-level cities in Guangdong province.

Nanqu Hospital, which is affiliated with Zhongshan No 2 People's Hospital, has only 80 beds at the moment, even though it once had more than 140 patients, said Wang Jun, head of the hospital.