Proposed health cuts concern charity
As new figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) show the number of drug-related deaths in England and Wales has increased for the second year in a row, drug and alcohol treatment charity Addaction has called for the government to rethink proposed cuts to local authority health spending.
“These tragic figures paint a stark picture of the shifting landscape of drug misuse in England and Wales,” said Simon Antrobus, Chief Executive of Addaction, which works in partnership with EDP to delivery drug and alcohol services across Devon as RISE Recovery.
“Drug treatment services across the country have seen an increase in the number of people seeking help for opiates and/or crack cocaine and this is only likely to increase further as the effect of increased opiate availability and purity is felt. Meanwhile, the Department of Health are proposing a £200m reduction to the Public Health Grant, which will hit the capacity of drug services commissioned by Local Authorities.”
As the ONS reports, evidence suggests that in 2010/11 there was a heroin drought in the UK, with reduced availability of heroin and a consequently lower purity level of street heroin. The UN reports that global opium poppy cultivation (the source of heroin) reached its highest level in 2014 since the 1930s. Prices of heroin have also changed over this period, meaning people can now take stronger heroin for the same price.
Simon Antrobus continues, “Addaction is one of the largest providers of drug treatment services across the UK, working with some 15,000 people every year whose lives and the lives of their families have been destroyed by opiates. As the landscape of drug availability and purity shifts, that support will be needed more than ever.”
“We welcome the government’s commitment to supporting people struggling with addiction. But we would urge them to ensure that the proposed cuts to the Public Health Grant offer the same level of protection to local authority clinical spending as has been promised to NHS commissioned services. The stakes are simply too high to do otherwise.”
