During a recent radio talk show, Health and Social Services Minister Mildred Dover was unable to answer a female caller's question regarding women's care at the proposed Mount Herbert detox centre.

The woman asked Dover how child care would be handled when the addict is separated from her children during the lengthy rehabilitation process.

This question wasn't the first, nor will it be the last, regarding women's care at Mount Herbert.

On Jan. 20, Dover enthusiastically announced that "women-specific programs" would be an important feature of the new $3.2-million detox centre being built this spring. A private wing, she said, would provide women with 24-hour in-patient care.

That's as far as she has gone to explain women's care at the centre.

However, Dover is missing two points.

First, some women addicts are mothers who could not afford babysitters and may not have the family or friend support to look after their children for a long period of time.

Second, women, who tend to be the primary caregivers of sick parents or relatives, can't bear to be away from them for weeks.

It's commendable that Dover admitted more women are seeking help for addictions, but a counsellor recently said she is frustrated by the lack of services available to address the complexity of women's addictions.

Not only may the addict be a mother, she may also be on social assistance, currently experiencing or recovering from physical or sexual abuse or dealing with an eating disorder.

Thus, one long-term, in-patient detox centre and regional out-patient services on P.E.I. can't begin to solve women's addiction problems. Dover must look beyond the 1997 Provincial Addictions Services Review, which recommended the expansion of women's care.

Health and Social Services could subsidize child or home care during a woman's stay at Mount Herbert. The department may also consider boarding her children at the centre.

By having her children every day in the safe confines of the centre, a woman may get better, sooner.

Dover has argued separation may be good for a family dealing with an addiction. She says the family may be at its wit's end by the time the addict seeks help. When the addict is the family's primary caregiver, separation is not that simple.

It's time to rethink your position on women and addictions, Ms. Dover.

SD