Reports: December |
Alcohol Profiles for England: short statistical commentary, December 2024
New data has been added to the Alcohol Profile tool on the Fingertips platform. This update shows: In 2023, there were 8,274 alcohol-specific deaths (deaths wholly due to alcohol) in England, which was an increase of 63.8% from 5,050 deaths in 2006 and a 4.6% increase since 2022. This equates to a rate of 15.0 per 100,000 population in 2023. This was the highest rate for alcohol-specific mortality since the start of the data series in 2006 (10.7 per 100,000) | OHID, UK
Still ambitious for recovery - How to address illegal drug addiction and strengthen law enforcement’s role (PDF)
This report sheds light on the scale of the illegal drug addiction crisis we face today, not only in terms of the lives lost to overdoses and drug poisonings, but also the lives blighted by stigma and a lack of support It echoes the findings of Dame Carol Black’s independent review of drugs, which so starkly warned that the Government must invest in tackling the problem or keep paying for the consequences | CSJ, UK
National naloxone programme Scotland - Quarterly monitoring bulletin
This release by Public Health Scotland (PHS) presents information on the number of take-home naloxone kits issued by the National Naloxone Programme (NNP) in Scotland. Figures are presented separately for kits issued from community outlets, kits issued in prisons at the point of liberation, kits dispensed via community prescription, and kits issued by Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) | Public Health Scotland, UK
Scottish Public Health Observatory update - Estimated quarterly numbers of people prescribed opioid substitution therapy in Scotland (12-month period)
In the 12-month period ending 30 June 2024 (the end of 2024/25 Q1), Opioid Substitution Therapy (OST) was prescribed to an estimated minimum of 29,470 people in Scotland. In the 12 months to the end of the previous financial year quarter (2023/24 Q4) an estimated minimum of 29,817 people were prescribed OST. The NHS Board areas where the highest estimated numbers of people prescribed OST lived were Greater Glasgow & Clyde (8,579), Lothian (4,570) and Lanarkshire (3,032) | Public Health Scotland, UK
Liver disease profile, December 2024 update
Among the indicators investigated it was found that the number of premature deaths from alcoholic liver disease rose by 3.6% in 2023 to 5,984 compared to 5,776 in 2022. Also, the England rate of premature deaths from alcoholic liver disease between 2001 to 2023 has increased by almost 60% | OHID, UK
A World of harm: How U.S. Taxpayers Fund the Global War on Drugs Over Evidence-Based Health Responses
This report demonstrates how U.S. assistance has supported and expanded destructive and deadly anti-drug responses in low- and middle-income countries around the world. It also presents new follow-the-money data analysis on U.S. international drug control spending by various government departments and budgets | HRI, UK
Official Statistics - Health Survey Northern Ireland: First Results 2023/24
First results from the 2023/24 Health Survey Northern Ireland. The survey covers a range of topics including general health, smoking, drinking, mental health and emotional well-being | Department of Health (Northern Ireland) and Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, UK
Life. Restored. Longitudinal service user evaluation 2019-2023 (PDF)
Tiglin provides addiction treatment through long-term residential and aftercare programmes grounded in a Christian ethos, focusing on the biological, psychological, social, and spiritual wellbeing of individuals. From 2019 to 2023, Tiglin conducted a comprehensive evaluation of its group programmes across the Men’s, Women’s, and Aftercare centres. It assessed service user satisfaction and programme effectiveness through quantitative and qualitative methodologies | Tiglin, Ireland
Beyond punishment: From criminal justice responses to drug policy reform
This report exposes how punitive drug policies have driven mass incarceration and grave human rights violations. In 2023 alone, over 3.1 million people were arrested for drug-related offenses, with 20% of the global prison population detained for such crimes - nearly half for simple possession | Global Commission on Drug Policy, Switzerland
Change Grow Live 2024 annual report
The launch of our 2024 annual report is a time to reflect and to acknowledge our achievements despite the significant challenges the country has faced – from the cost-of-living crisis and the growing pressure on health and social care services, to changing patterns in drug use and the emerging risk from synthetic substances | Change Grow Live, UK
Key findings published on evaluation of National Mission on Drug Deaths
As part of the Public Health Scotland (PHS) evaluation of the National Mission on Drug Deaths, the findings of a research project interviewing key individuals in the field have been published today. The findings show a degree of consensus that the Scottish Government’s National Mission on Drug Deaths has already delivered some positive impacts, particularly, in strengthening drug treatment systems. However, the interviews also highlighted unintended negative consequences and missed opportunities in the National Mission | Public Health Scotland, UK
IPS for alcohol and drug dependence: data linkage outcomes
A report on the outcomes of the expansion of Individual Placement and Support (IPS) for adults in treatment for alcohol and drug dependence in England | OHID, UK
People who inject drugs: HIV and viral hepatitis monitoring
HIV prevalence among Unlinked Anonymous Monitoring (UAM) Survey participants has remained low and stable over the past decade and was 1% in 2023. Overall, the proportion of UAM Survey participants with hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibodies (a marker of ever HCV infection) has remained relatively stable over the past decade (from 49% in 2014 to 53% in 2023) and is higher among those aged 35 years and above | UKHSA, UK
Myanmar Opium Survey 2024 Cultivation, Production, and Implications (PDF)
The latest survey shows that opium production has slowed in Myanmar, but the country remains a leading source of illegally produced opium | UNODC, Thailand
Global State of Tobbaco Harm Reduction 2024: A situation Report
The fourth in our biennial GSTHR series, this report tracks the extent to which safer nicotine products are replacing and substituting for combustible and risky oral tobacco products. It is split into two parts, A Global Perspective and Regional and National Insights | GSTHR, UK
Drug misuse in England and Wales: year ending March 2024
An overview of the extent and trends of illicit drug use. Data are from the Crime Survey for England and Wales. The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) estimated 8.8% of people aged 16 to 59 years (around 2.9 million people) reported using any drug in the last 12 months for the year ending (YE) March 2024; there was no statistically significant change, compared with YE March 2023 | ONS, UK
Alcohol Action Strategic Plan 2025-2029
Alcohol Action Ireland is setting out its strategic plan for 2025-2029. We will advocate for government policies which will reduce alcohol consumption and provide services for those harmed by alcohol. We intend to focus on the actions which can bring about a sea-change in how our government and society understands and views alcohol | AAI, Ireland
Charter of Rights for People Affected by Substance Use
The Charter of Rights for People Affected by Substance Use has been launched, aiming to improve the experience of anyone needing support. The Charter, recognised as the first of its kind in the world by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, will help ensure people know their rights and the support they can expect to receive, and that those who use drugs and alcohol, and their families, are treated with dignity | Scottish Government, UK
OECD Toolkit to Combat Homelessness
With over 2.2 million people experiencing homelessness in a given year, the issue remains a persistent challenge in OECD and EU countries. Organised around nine building blocks, this Toolkit helps policy makers design and implement strategies to combat homelessness. It provides guidance in policy design, in how to engage stakeholders, strengthen the evidence base, and embed systematic monitoring and evaluation into homelessness policy making | OECD, UK
Alcohol related hospital statistics
This release by Public Health Scotland provides information on alcohol-related inpatient and day case activity within general acute and psychiatric hospitals in Scotland. In 2023/24 there were 32,301 alcohol-related hospital admissions (stays) in Scotland. The majority of alcohol-related hospital admissions (92%) occurred in general acute hospitals, with the remaining 8% of admissions occurring in psychiatric hospitals | PHS, UK
Alcohol Consumption and Harms Dashboard
This release by Public Health Scotland provides an update on the Wholly Attributable Alcohol Hospital Statistics and the Wholly Attributable Alcohol Mortality figures to include financial year 2023/24 and calendar year 2023 respectively. In 2023/24, the European Age-sex standardised rate of wholly attributable alcohol hospital admissions to general acute hospitals was 548 per 100,000 population and was 3% higher than the rate in 2022/23 | PHS, UK
National drug and alcohol treatment waiting times
This release by Public Health Scotland reports on waiting times for people accessing specialist drug and alcohol treatment services between 1 July 2024 and 30 September 2024. During the quarter ending 30 September 2024, there were 7,454 referrals to community-based services. Of these, 6,976 (93.6%) involved a wait of three weeks or less | PHS, UK
Evaluation of the Scottish Government Residential Rehabilitation programme
This release by Public Health Scotland reports on the number of individuals who started a residential rehab placement in Scotland in financial years 2019/20, 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022/23. The purpose of this report is to help track progress towards the Scottish Government's target of 1,000 individuals publicly funded to go through residential rehab per year by 2026. This report will inform the PHS evaluation of the Scottish Government's Residential Rehabilitation programme | PHS, UK
Interim monitoring report on statutory-funded residential rehabilitation placements
The report by Public Health Scotland presents information on the number of statutory funded placements into residential rehabilitation, with estimated costs, that were approved between 1 April 2021 and 30 September 2024. In the last 6-month period, between 1 April 2024 and 30 September 2024, a total of 442 residential rehabilitation placements were approved for statutory funding in Scotland. This is a decrease of 37 placements when compared to April 2023 to September 2023 | PHS, UK
National Drug and Alcohol Treatment Waiting Times customer survey results
This report by Public Health Scotland summarises the responses to PHS’s customer survey on the quarterly National Drug and Alcohol Treatment Waiting Times publication which ran between 5 September 2024 and 17 October 2024. The survey sought feedback on the publication report and dashboard, and on PHS’s proposal to discontinue the report and focus future work on the dashboard. The report also provides details of planned publication developments and the timescales for these | PHS, UK
NHS Stop Smoking Services Scotland
This release by Public Health Scotland provides an annual update on statistics from NHS Stop Smoking Services in Scotland for the period April 2023 to March 2024, including trend data from 2014/15. In 2023/34 the number of attempts to stop smoking made with the help of NHS smoking cessation services increased to 30,314, a 12.4% increase from 2022/23 | PHS, UK
Missing rebound: Youth drug use defies expectations, continues historic decline
Adolescent drug use continued to drop in 2024, building on and extending the historically large decreases that occurred during the pandemic onset in 2020 | University of Michigan, USA
The Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) National Estimates from Drug-Related Emergency Department Visits, 2023
The frequency of substance-related visits increased by 5.8 percent compared to estimates in 2022. Rates of all substance-related ED visits from participating hospitals were highest among individuals with the following characteristics: males (2,668 per 100,000), individuals who were not Hispanic or Latino (2,391 per 100,000), and Black individuals, after accounting for the underlying population (4,053 per 100,000 versus 1,736 per 100,000 in the next highest subpopulation). The top substances reported were alcohol, cannabis, opioids, methamphetamines, cocaine, and benzodiazepines | SAMHSA, USA
Understanding the Implications of the Taliban’s Opium Ban in Afghanistan
The Taliban’s opium ban, coupled with Afghan farmers’ replacement of poppy largely with low-value wheat, is likely to worsen dissatisfaction and political tensions. The Taliban’s persistence in enforcing the ban has been notable, especially in 2024. If the ban remains in place, it would demonstrate the regime’s strength but also worsen rural poverty, increase dissatisfaction among landholders and spur political instability | USIP, USA