BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- The Palestinian Authority minister of health said Sunday that there are an estimated 50,000 drug addicts in East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.

Hani Abdin told Ma'an that the figures have encouraged the ministry to exert efforts to raise awareness about drug addiction and work with partner organizations to fight drug use.

Director of public health, Dr. Asad Ramlawi, told Ma'an that a plan is being prepared by the ministry to support civil society groups tackling drug use and a hospital, expected to be completed in 2015, is being built in Ramallah to treat drug addicts.

Last year, anti-drugs campaigner Abdul Jabbar Yaraqan told Ma'an that figures for drug addiction in Israeli-controlled East Jerusalem are hard to estimate accurately.

In Shufat refugee camp, an area beyond the Palestinian Authority's reach, Palestinian drug addicts even say Israeli authorities have abandoned the problem on purpose, Yaraqan said.