KABUL, April 26 (Xinhua) -- The first-ever rehabilitation center for women and children has been opened in the once drug hub of southern Afghanistan's Helmand province, provincial director for Public Health Fazal Ahmad Shafiullah said Saturday.

The newly constructed 20-bed center would provide medical treatment to drug-addicted women and children free of charge, the official added.

A total of 39,231 drug-addicted persons have been rehabilitated and reunited with their families and integrated into society in the southern region over the past couple of years, the official further said.

The Afghan interim government, which banned poppy cultivation, drug production and drug trafficking in 2022, has vowed to get the post-war country, reportedly the home of more than 3 million drug-addicted people, free of drug addicts and the drug menace. ■