Professor Nazaraliev Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize

Dr. Jenishbek Nazaraliev, Kyrgyztan’s famous alcohol and drug addiction psychiatrist, has been nominated as a candidate for the Nobel Prize.  In a recent interview, Dr. Nazaraliev sat down and provided details of his nomination, his new successful reality TV series Doctor Life and his treatment methods of alcoholism and drug addiction.

It was recently reported in various news media outlets that you are being considered for a Nobel Prize. Please tell us the details.

Jenishbek Nazaraliev: When I initially heard about the Nobel Prize nomination from several employees at the World League “Mind Free of Drugs,” an NGO which I chair, I was skeptical. It wasn’t until I received an official written confirmation from the Nobel Prize organizers that it became more believable. In the latter part of December (2013), the president of Life Friends, an international anti-drug organization headquartered in Yemen, informed me that his staff had begun the preparations for nominating me for the award for 2014. The reason he gave was due to my life long dedication. Over the past 25 years, I have been treating people suffering from drug and alcohol addiction. In total, I have treated more than 17,000 patients, and since 2002, I have been heavily devoted towards and engaged in drug prevention and promotion worldwide.

What role does Life Friends play on this issue?

JN: As I understand it, officials from Life Friends submitted the proposal to the Swedish Academy; in addition, they submitted documents detailing my work with drug and alcohol addiction. As a candidate for the Nobel Prize, I am confident they will carefully examine my work in detail and decide. However, nominating scientists and public figures to receive an award may also be done by other public and scientific organizations. Life Friends was contacted by the British Academy and the development of human health associated with the Arab and European Academies. Together, these organizations expressed their willingness to cooperate with my proposal (submission). The president of Life Friends also informed me to provide a letter of recommendation from one of the past winners of the award. I asked His Holiness the Dalai Lama XIV to support my nomination, as he is a friend and Honorary Member of the World League.

In addition to your nomination for the Nobel Prize, the press spoke about the finale of Doctor Life, your reality TV project that revealed the treatment programs of patients struggling with alcoholism and drug addiction in your clinic. Could you tell us more about the project?

JN: At this point, the Doctor Life reality TV project has been completed. In 2012, eight heroes from the US, Russia, and Germany were selected to participate in the project. The participants, along with their co-dependents, arrived in Kyrgyzstan to undergo alcohol and drug addiction treatment on camera. Together with a Russia broadcasting company, we filmed everything that happened during their treatment in the clinic. We recorded every stage of the treatment program and even translation each episode into 7 different languages - English, French, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Japanese and Arabic. The rehabilitation period was 42 days. In the grand finale (20th episode), we caught up with all of our participants a year later to see how were doing and if they had been able to remain drug free. In the final episode, participants shared their difficulties, problems and triumphs they had experienced since leaving the clinic.  Each participant had to start a new life.

In my opinion, Doctor Life provided both a unique and comprehensive understanding of alcoholism and drug addiction. It allowed our viewers to not only just capture a glimpse of an addict, but to really see into the soul of a sick person and witness how addiction effects one’s family, relatives, and friends.  Doctor Life gave us many insights into the powerful emotions and experiences of the patients during treatment and afterwards, when they returned to society. I believe the program is not only useful for patients, their families and other addiction psychiatrists, but for all physicians.  I strongly feel one can learn new approaches to patient treatment and rehabilitation in MCNazaraliev, the largest private medical center in Eurasia.

Is it possible to get rid of drug addiction and is your treatment expensive?

JN: I must say, we offer the highest quality of treatment at the fairest prices.  To find out more about the costs of our services, an interested person can easily find the price on our website or simply by contacting our offices.  Moreover, if one still has doubts concerning the possibility of curing alcohol and drug addicted individuals, I invite he/she to view the 20th episode of Doctor Life, “A Year Later.” We give an affirmative answer and prove that “Yes! Addiction can be cured.”