1.

BACKGROUND

Drug Addiction is a condition of taking drugs habitually and being unable to stop doing so
without suffering adverse effects. Addiction is the bane of existence of millions of people around
the world. Drug abuse has been a rising social and economic problem in post-war Bangladesh.
Drug abuse is a complex problem in Bangladesh. Being very close to the ‘Golden Triangle’ and
having thousand of kilometers of common border with India, illicit drugs are easily trafficked
here. Easy availability of drugs is the prime cause of the growing number of drug abusers in
Bangladesh. Research has shown that people often abuse drugs for the sake of recreation!
Adolescent tendency for rebellion, peer pressure, lack of peace in family, release of tension, and a
heightened feeling of frustration are other major reasons.

At present-more than 1.7 million drug

abusers are present in the country. More
than half of these abusers reside in Dhaka.
The numbers are only increasing with
time. Most addicts are between the ages of
15 to 35. Designer drugs like yaba had
incarcerated a sizable number of youths
including girls in the upper class
especially in city’s posh areas.

Studies have shown that growing criminal

activities, such as robbery, burglary, theft,
mugging, extortion, forgery, family
violence, sexual assault, and gang assault
in Bangladesh are believed to be partly
attributable to drug abuse. Drug abuse also
shortens life expectancy, decreases
productivity, increases absenteeism from
workplace and schools, and is linked to
higher cost of medical care, accidents, and
high-risk sexual behavior. Thus, a big
decay has been created in society in a
subtle-way.

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The economic fallout of such widespread
drug consumption in Bangladesh is also
extensive. Approximately US$ 707 – 1,135
is spent by a drug abuser each year. This
value is much higher than the per capita
income of Bangladeshi people (US$ 380 in
2001). In total about US$ 1.2-1.9 billion is
spent on drugs each year. That is almost
equal to two-thirds of the funds the
government allocated for development
programs in 2003 (US$3.44 billion). The
actual cost of drug abuse would be much
more if we include other related costs as
seen in Table 2.

In such a dire situation, proper and

effective rehabilitation of addicts has
become vital. Keeping this appalling
scenario in mind Prottoy addiction and rehabilitation center began its journey in October 2002.
Jointly started by Dr Nazmul Haq and Dr. Chuk, Prottoy was the first de-addiction and
rehabilitation center of Bangladesh which offered painless de-addiction. Prottoy started out with
an initial investment of Tk. 10 million and one of its earliest corporate sponsors was the Abul
Khair Group of Industries. However, the bulk of the investment was made by Dr. Nazmul Haque.
They started off with a vision to help drug addicts in Bangladesh by providing them unique
treatments and giving them a second chance at life. Since those early days they have come a long
way in the course of which they have treated over 750 drug addicts with a success rate of over
80%. Because of this Prottoy can be considered to be one of the most successful rehab clinics
which has contributed immensely to society.

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 2. PROTTOY – THE REHAB CENTER

Prottoy medical clinic has its main branch situated in Gulshan on a plot which has area of about 8
kathas and is housed in a rented 3-storied building. There is a mothly running cost of over Taka
6-7 lakhs. The workforce consists of a total of 40 employees. This comprises of:

 10 professionally trained nurses

 4 full-time psychiatrists all trained from abroad (USA and UK)
 General physicians (all MBBS graduates from Dhaka Medical College)

The workforce also has some doctors who are on ‘on-call duty.’ These doctors may be local
doctors or they may be hired on a temporary basis from abroad (mainly India). Furthermore, if
there is a medical condition that cannot be dealt with at Prottoy, the patient is referred to local
hospitals such as Apollo Hospital, BIRDEM, etc.

2.1 SERVICES OFFERED

According to Colonel Md. Mahbubur Rahman, Prottoy offers all kinds of psychological and
rehabilitation services. Since its inception it has treated patients with all sorts of mental disorders.
80% of its patients are drug addicts while the remaining 20% suffer from other psychological
disorders such as marital problems, stress, trauma, depression, etc.

It mainly offers rehab programs for people suffering from any kind of substance abuse. People
suffering with this problem have been the majority of their clients. This includes addiction for
alcohol, heroin, marijuana, cocaine, yaba, phensidyl, etc. What makes their rehab programs
different from other centers is the fact that it is totally painless! During the entire program no
patient is tortured or hurt in any way. At Prottoy they do not use crude traditional ways of drug
de-addiction. Patients undergoing treatment here are provided with state of the art rehabilitation
techniques.

When patients suffering from substance abuse are admitted into the clinic, they first have to
undergo a process called detoxification in which the substance abused is removed from the
person’s bloodstream. This may take about 2 weeks. After the doctors are sure that the person is
detoxified, they start the second phase of treatment.

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In the second phase, the patient is provided with anti-relapse treatment. Relapsing is the condition
in which a detoxified addict gets hooked on to substance and becomes addicted again. So to
prevent this, Prottoy uses a certain technology. This is called ‘blocker technology.’ According to
Colonel Md. Mahbubur Rahman Prottoy was the clinic that pioneered the use of this technology
in Bangladesh. What is so special about this technology is that makes the entire rehabilitation
process pain-free. When a detoxified person is administered medication that uses this blocker
technology, that person no longer feels the urge to take the abused drug. Even if the drug is taken
by the person, it no longer provides that ‘kick’ and instead may feel painful. This follow-up anti-
relapse treatment may take anywhere from 2 months to 2 years depending on the patient. During
this time it is very important that the person undergoing treatment is given a lot of emotional and
psychological support. This is where the family has to play a very important role. In fact
throughout the entire rehab program the family of the patient has a vital role to play if the
rehabilitation is to be successful. Most of the failures that occur can be attributed to the lack of
adequate encouragement from the family.

2.2 SOCIAL ACTIVITIES TO AID THE REHAB PROCESS

In addition to the medical treatment offered at prottoy, there are a lot of activities that help the
patients cope with the mental pressure of the undergoing rehabilitation. Such activities include
mingling with fellow patients and being able to socialize. They are also provided with the
facilities to exercise in a gym. Furthermore, they are also provided with lessons on how to deal
with life after rehab. In general, they are given a taste of what it is to socialize normally and to
take part positive social activities so that they can blend back into society more easily once the
rehab is over.

2.3 TARGET CUSTOMERS

According to Colonel Md. Mahbubur Rahman the following information best describes the
clients of Prottoy:

 16 – 30 years of age
 Educated
 Mainly high income group
 Male: female ratio is 4:1
 Clients mainly from Dhaka city. Some from Chittagong and Sylhet as well.

2.4 SOCIAL CONTRIBUTION

 Free friday clinic

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  Free treatment to drug addicts who are considered to have the potential to serve society
when rehabilitated.

3. MARKETING OVERVIEW

3.1 PRICING

Prottoy provides its exclusive, painless detoxification service at a wide range of prices.
The payment scheme for the 2 weeks-6 month treatment is as follows:

Cabin Charge Tk. 1000/day

Doctor’s Charge Tk. 1000/visit
Medicine Cost Variable
Total Cost Tk. 10,000-100,000

There are a number of reasons for the varying cost of medicines. A range of medicines is required
for different drug addicts. Depending on their financial background, patients may opt to have
local or imported medication. Furthermore, all patients are not cured in the same duration as their
severity of addiction varies. Thus, there is a fluctuation in the total cost of rehabilitation program.
However, this proves to be unaffordable for many. So, Prottoy offers free treatment in special
cases. For example, addicts who are considered to be socially important, as they can contribute to
society in some way, are given priority. It is also done in the hope that they will be able to
influence other drug addicts to quit. Patients who are visibly committed to give up their addiction
are also given preference.

3.2 PROMOTION

The promotional strategy of Prottoy revolves mainly around its satisfied customers. Prottoy has a
high success rate of over 80 percent and it is these cured patients who are mainly responsible for
its promotion. For example, after rehabilitated addicts leave the clinic, word of their success
spreads through their network of family and friends.

One very important promotional technique is their advertisements in newspapers and TV. This is
the way in which we actually came to hear of the clinic. The newspaper ads are very informative

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and inform people of what services are offered at Prottoy while the TV ad takes a different
approach. The video commercial that is aired on the local private TV channels shows a distressed
girl hooked on to substance abuse because of problems in her relationship with her fiancée. It
later shows her getting admitted into the rehab program at Prottoy and it demonstrates that it is
possible to get back your normal life no matter what happens. This is a very effective way to
change the attitude of people towards drug rehab programs.

Another way in which they promote their services is by organizing seminars and workshops. Two
such programs were organized in May and June 2005 in the Gulshan Shooting Club and in the
Raowa Club (Mohakhali) respectively. These programs were mainly involved in awareness
raising and promoting the services offered by Prottoy. Many important dignitaries were present as
chief guests over there. One such person was the eminent dentist Dr. Arup Pratap Chowdhury of
BIRDEM hospital. There are plans to organize more programs like this in the future.

3.3 PLACEMENT

Prottoy has its head office in Gulshan-2 on the Kemal Ataturk Avenue. It is located on the main
road and is easily visible. Due to the success achieved, Prottoy opened another branch in
Nikunja-2 in 2004.

3.4 ANALYSIS OF THE MARKETING STRATEGY OF PROTTOY

The entire marketing strategy of Prottoy is such that it only caters to the elite of society. For
example, the advertisements aired on TV are mainly shown on local private channels. Since a
satellite cable connection is required to view these channels it becomes out of reach to the general
public. Furthermore, consider the seminars and workshops they organize to spread awareness.
These workshops were held in posh venues whose names have been mentioned. A much more
pragmatic approach would be to organize these type of programs at the grass-root level. It should
be made accessible to the general public not only to VIPs!

The pricing is probably the main reasons for Prottoy having such an exclusive client base. The
cost of the rehab program is too prohibitive for most of the general public. Although Prottoy is
not to blame in this regard because it uses modern methods of treatment that are quite costly, it
can do something to reduce this problem. This leads us to the next marketing aspect – placement.
The main branch is located at Gulshan. Renting a 3-storied building on an 8 katha plot in Gulshan
surely will burn a hole in anyone’s pocket! One other very important point that has to be made is
the fact that because it is located in a posh area it becomes a bit more difficult for the general
public to come to know that such an institution exists.

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However, everything is not flawed. The newspaper ads are very informative and are a great way
to let people know about the organization. Also the goodwill that is created among its clients
because of the great treatment and its social contribution goes a long way. This helps to create a
positive impression about the clinic, thus further adding to its promotion by ‘word of mouth.’

4. BARRIERS AND PROPOSED SOLUTIONS

Prottoy like other rehabilitation centers faces many barriers. Some of the problems faced are
mentioned below.

4.1 FINANCIAL PROBLEMS

Prottoy rehabilitation clinic basically gets its entire fund from Mr. Nazmul Haque. Abul Khair
Group once sponsored Prottoy. There are no other organizations or donors who would step
forward and help Prottoy financially. Hence, the financial disability holds back Prottoy from
further expansion and improvement of the existing facilities. Here it is worth mentioning that
though Prottoy has almost negligible donor, Hamim Group is one such organization that came
forward for financial help. Prottoy takes loans from banks to run its business due to its
insufficient amount of money. Even the Government of Bangladesh had no contribution other
than helping Prottoy with the legal procedure by making it a bit easier. Government of
Bangladesh can take active initiatives to break down all the barriers and come forward in helping
the rehab centers for betterment for the future of her citizens. The government can prevent the
spread of drugs in the grass root level by exercising strict rules and regulations. Due to all these
constraints Prottoy has a profit next to zero. Not only this, it is likely that the initial investment
may never ever be recovered. Prottoy’s inability to accumulate money hampers it from further
growth.

In an attempt to accumulate money Prottoy once approached an organization for sponsorship.

They proposed a stress management programs to the employees of the organizations to increase
their funds. However, the organizations were un-cooperative and showed no interest towards this
bright proposal.

4.2 LACK OF PROPER SPECIALISTS

One other major drawback for rehabs like Prottoy is the lack of psychiatrists. The patient to
psychiatrist ratio is very low in Bangladesh. As a result many patients arrive at the clinic and
have to wait for a long time to get proper treatment since there is a shortage of well-educated

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psychiatrists. This makes Prottoy’s psychiatric department very inefficient in providing proper
treatment. As a result, Prottoy resorts to hire foreign psychiatrists especially from India. This
increases the expenditure and the total cost of the services. Therefore, students in Bangladesh
should be encouraged to study this particular subject so that the country can get more
psychiatrists. Then rehab centers like Prottoy can hire local specialists and reduce their expenses.
In this way the total charge for the rehab program will be more affordable by lower class addicts.

4.3 LACK OF SERVICE

Sometimes these rehabs offer short-term, usually 14-day, detoxification services to drug addicts
including the IDUs (Injecting drug users), leaving out a crucial follow up rehabilitation.
Detoxified patients, without having psychological therapy, social and financial rehabilitation, and
counseling, went back to their addiction, particularly those who had lost their livelihood. Some
immediate, new and comprehensive approach is needed to combat this menace so that these
addicts can return to the social mainstream.

An essential psychosocial service for relapse prevention (including stress and anxiety reduction),
for changing behavioral pattern and mindset, and for increasing self-efficacy with detoxification
is needed. The rehab centers have to realize these facts and take necessary initiatives.

4.4 SOCIAL STIGMA

Social stigma is an important barrier to these rehabs. Admission to a rehab center poses the risk
of getting stigmatized by society. However, introduction of in-home detoxification (suitable for
certain categories of addicts such as women, elderly people and service-holders), can help the
patient recover without thinking about being segregated in the society. The family members of
the patient have to be intensely involved in caring for the patient too. In Prottoy 80% of the
patients are drug addicts. Of that 80%, 70-80% has successfully recovered and around 20%
relapsed due to lack of co-operation from the family members. Hence it is very important that the
family members join together to help the patient fight addiction.

Minimizing discrimination and stigmatization of vulnerable populations is essential for greater

community acceptance as a prerequisite for providing community and home care. Community
education and advocacy efforts to counter discrimination needs to be further strengthened. The
media can be used to shape community acceptance of drug addicts

Considering all these constraints, the future of this sector seems to be bleak. If proper steps are
not being taken it is likely that the future growth of the rehabilitation sector is at stake.

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 5. THE FUTURE OF THE SECTOR & PROTTOY

With all these barriers, significant positive growth in the rehab sector does not seem likely in
Bangladesh in the near future. According to Colonel Mahbubur Rahman very recently there has
been a mushrooming growth of rehab centers in Bangladesh. The problem these clinics pose is
that they use crude techniques for treating patients, so that, even after detoxification and
rehabilitation process, patients often relapse into their former habits of taking drugs. This results
in a waste of money and also unpopularity for the rehab centers. When people see that even after
such torturous treatment, patients do not get well; they lose faith in this rehab concept. This
impedes the growth of this sector.

However in the case of Prottoy things are different. In the initial phase, Prottoy plans to open up
branches in Mohammadpur and Uttara so that it can offer its services to a wider array of people.
There are also plans to lower the rental costs, by moving to a cheaper place, or a permanent one
owned by Prottoy. This step would allow them to lower their running costs thus enabling them to
provide cheaper treatment. As a result, this could expand their client base to include a greater
variety of patients, especially those from the middle and lower income groups. Another objective
of Prottoy is to generate more awareness among the general public and to do this they plan to get
the government and corporate sector’s help, especially in terms of financial and human resources.
This would prevent drug abuse in the first place and as well remove the negative attitude that
persists against drug rehab programs. Even though these programs would negatively affect their
business as they are trying to prevent drug abuse in the first place, Prottoy firmly believes in the
motto that “Prevention is Better than Cure”. This is because Prottoy’s main incentive, according
to Colonel Mahbubur Rahman is not financial. Their main incentive is the betterment of society
and this is evident in the fact that Prottoy runs on a very small amount of profit, that too without
the help of significant corporate sector funding. And it is this aspect of Prottoy that is most
impressive. More people like Md. Nazmul Haque are needed for the growth of this sector and the
betterment of the society in the long run.

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 6. SUGGESTIONS

In order to generate significant growth for Prottoy and in the rehab sector the following could
serve as major contributors towards achieving that goal:

 While organizing seminars and workshops Prottoy should invite some of its successfully
rehabilitated patients. This would be a powerful symbol and could help a great deal in
improving the image of the drug rehab sector. It would be a sign to people to show that
rehabilitation is a reality and that the drug addicts are not a lost cause.

 To expand to the middle and lower income group Prottoy should definitely shift its main
brach to a place where rent is much cheaper. This would allow them to provide services at a
somewhat cheaper and more reasonable rate.

 Prottoy could set up a call-center. This would act as a way for troubled and distressed people
to avail proper counseling and advice. In this way they could make these people aware of the
facilities that they can avail at Prottoy to help them with their distress.

 Prottoy could provide vocational training. This would act as a way for the patients
undergoing rehab to utilize their positive energy. In the process they would learn something
which they can always use later on in their lives.

 Protttoy could form collaborations with other organizations similar to itself in order to
persuade the government to subsidize the rehab sector and provide an impetus for its growth.
One way in which the government can help is to organize large-scale awareness raising
programs that can reach out to people at the grass-root level. These programs could have 2
positive effects. Firstly, it could discourage the abuse of drugs in the first place. Secondly, it
could make people aware that chronic drug addiction is not the end of one’s life. There is
hope in the form of rehabilitation programs. It could reach out to the public and explain that
these need the support of society instead of being treated as outcasts. Another way in which
the government can help is by providing incentives for people to take professional training to
become psychiatrists. The government could provide financial incentive in the form of
nominal fees being charged at universities. To increase the number of psychiatrists in
Bangladesh is vital if any positive growth is to happen in the rehab sector. According to
Colonel Md. Mahbubur Rahman there are only 100 psychiatrists in the country. Without

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 psychiatrists it is not possible to establish a rehabilitation center. Finally the government
should provide more funding for this sector instead of treating it as a waste the country’s
resources.

7. TAKE-AWAYS

Prottoy Clinic Limited was started in October 2002 by Mr. Nazmul Haque and Dr. Chuck. It has
come a long way since then- treated more than 750 substance abusers in the last three years. In a
country plagued by quack detoxification and rehabilitation centres, Prottoy offers the promise of
quality. The first Detoxification clinic of Bangladesh that offered painless detoxification
treatment and initiated the use of ‘blocker’ technology to prevent relapse was Prottoy. Their
success rate is more than 80%. The pricing of their services are quite expensive and can be
afforded only by affluent classes. The marketing strategy of Prottoy revolves mainly around their
cured patients. its newspaper and television advertisements, and their seminars are not very
accessible by the general masses. These… explains the fact that Prottoy’s general client base
consists mainly of the well educated and upper classes people. If any real improvement is to be
made in this sector the general masses must be involved. One of the main barriers to the growth
of Prottoy is the social stigma and the negative attitude associated with substance abusers and the
rehabilitation sector in general. Another major impediment in the development of Prottoy is the
lack of financial backing in this sector. The corporate sector is not very keen on investment
mainly because of low return on investment and the general perception that substance abusers are
not worthy enough to be invested on. Steady growth is still been seen in the drug rehabilitation
and detoxification sector despite of these barriers although it is unclear whether quality treatment
would be provided by these clinics. Prottoy has a huge potential of making significant
contribution to the society and country by making even more progress in the rehabilitation sector.

8. RECAP OF EXPERIENCE

‘Privacy and discretion are the buzzwords of the drug detoxification and rehabilitation sector.’
We learned this piece of ‘hadith’ during the course of forming our report! The chairman of
Prottoy Limited was initially totally non corporative. It seemed we had finally succeeded in
finding an institution where the nametag of IBA does not cut any ice. At one point we became so
desperate that we actually conspired to gain access into Prottoy pretending to be future patients!
Mr. Atkinson even convinced one of his uncles to help us in this ploy. But eventually after three
days of effective persuasion he connected us to one of the directors of Prottoy; cornel Md.
Mahbubul Rahman. Only after convincing him that we are interested only in the human-interest
angle of their clinic did he finally give us the information we needed. Not to mention the whole

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Graduation fiasco. All the members of our team volunteered in the program. Miraculously, we
succeeded in putting together the report and presentation while suffering from all the above
mentioned …as well as the endemic IBA-tic disease of starting all major presentation and reports
at the last possible hour!

9. REFERENCES

1. www.icddrb.org
2. The Daily Star Magazine.
3. Banglapedia encyclopaedia

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