The Drug Dependence Treatment Center , AIIMS was established in the year 1988 and was functional from the premises of the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital, New Delhi. In 2003 it was upgraded as the National Center (National Drug Dependence Treatment Center) and is fully operational from its new premises in Ghaziabad since April 2003.

Under the leadership of Professor S K Khandelwal (Former Chief, NDDTC and HOD, department of psychiatry), the centre has well qualified multi-disciplinary faculty and staff (medical doctors, pre-clinical scientists, social scientists, research staff, nursing staff, laboratory personnel and administrative staff) to render various modalities of care. Clinical care is provided through outpatient, inpatient settings and community clinics. Help is available for the treatment of disorders related to use of all the substances i.e. Alcohol, Opioids, Cannabis, Tobacco etc. Treatment modalities include both pharmacological (i.e. with medications) and non-pharmacological (i.e. psychological / social) treatments. Both medically assisted and drug-free treatment related to drug use, and long-term supervised medications (Buprenorphine / Methadone/Naltrexone maintenance therapy) are provided. The centre carries out the relevant haematological, biochemical laboratory tests to monitor health damage. Further, several drugs of abuse are screened simultaneously through analysis of patients’ urine sample.

The centre has been involved in:

1. Assessing magnitude of drug abuse in the country.

2. Providing clinical care to patients - hospital and community based -through daily OPD, special clinics, ward and community clinics in urban-slums of Delhi.

3. Health education

4. Manpower development – training of several categories of staff

5. Establishment of laboratory to detect drugs of abuse in body fluids and health damage.

6. Documentation, publication of resource material and creation of database.

7. Research.

The Center provides clinical care to about 4000 new patients and about 35000 old patients every year. It also provides clinical care to about 33000 patients in its community clinics. In addition, the centre runs special clinics like Tobacco use cessation clinic, Dual diagnosis, Adolescent clinic, Clinic for women and a clinic catering to Behavioral addictions.

NDDTC is a designated National Resource Center under the DDAP, MOH&FW and a WHO Collaborating Center for Substance Abuse. It is also the coordinating center for training programme for medical officers under the scheme implemented by Ministry of Finance.