Action needed now on drug deaths warns new report
MORE cash for services and a Government minister dedicated to recovery to stop drug deaths are being called for.
Favor (Faces and Voices of Recovery) launched a report this week demanding immediate action from government to tackle the record number of drug deaths in Glasgow and across Scotland.
Last year 280 people died from a drug-related death in Glasgow – an increase of 40% in just one year.
Across Scotland the total number of people who died from a drug-related death increased to 1187.
The Scottish Government set up a task force but campaigners and families of people affected by drugs are demanding immediate action.
Favor launched its You Keep Talking We Keep Dying campaign in response to a lack of action.
The new report will ask for a number of actions to put tackling drug addiction and drug-related deaths higher up the political agenda.
The recommendations include introducing a Recovery Minister, or Recovery Champion, to immediately focus full-time on tackling the drug deaths crisis.
The group also wants the Scottish Government to call a public health emergency and launch a joint co-ordinated response from the third sector, councils, and police and health boards.
It wants the Scottish Government to deliver a funding increase of 35% stop the crisis getting worse. It wants the creation of a lived experience panel to direct the current task force and inform the Scottish Government in their actions.
Annemarie Ward, CEO of Favor UK, set up the organisation 10 years ago.
She has been through the recovery process and wants to see more people with life experience given an active role in developing services.
She said there is too much focus on medically-assisted treatment like methadone in Scotland and not enough effort on wider support to get people drug free.
For too many people, she said, “you are given a script (prescription) and left on you own”.
The group wants more focus on a range of services and on residential rehabilitation, which Ms Ward said has been cut hugely in recent years.
Ms Ward added: “It’s been months since the news broke that Scotland has the highest number of drug-related deaths in Europe and we’re not seeing enough action.
“Our report will deliver a number of recommendations that the Scottish Government can take forward immediately.”
The report will be presented to Scotland’s Public Health Minister Joe Fitzpatrick.
The full report will be published later this week at an event in Possilpark, one of the areas of the city that has bene blighted by drug deaths for decades.
Last week, the Evening Times reported how the UK Government has agreed to hold a drugs death summit in Glasgow this year.
The Evening Times made the call to ministers at Westminster, Holyrood and the City Council to get together for an Emergency drug death summit.