Weekly news - 18th December 2020 |
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In date order, Monday to Friday:
Extra help for rough sleepers with drug and alcohol dependency
Rough sleepers across England will receive extra support to help them recover from drug and alcohol misuse | Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, Department of Health and Social Care, Public Health England, Jo Churchill MP, and Kelly Tolhurst MP, UK
COVID-19: guidance for commissioners and providers of services for people who use drugs or alcohol
Updated to reflect recommendations for best practice for drug and alcohol services in the current stage of the pandemic | PHE, UK
Drugs tsar says addicts 'neglected and ignored'
Prof Catriona Matheson was appointed to chair the taskforce last year after a record number of drug misuse deaths in Scotland acted as a "wake-up" call. The much-delayed figures for 2019 are due to be published on Tuesday | BBC, UK
Lockdown and beyond: A COVID insight report (PDF)
This report tells our shared COVID story through the form of open letters from families and team members, statistical reports from our Helpline and other services, and information on our COVID response throughout the pandemic | SFAD, UK
Deaths of homeless people in England and Wales: 2019 registrations
289 estimated deaths of homeless people in 2019 were related to drug poisoning, that is, 37.1% of all estimated deaths (see Figure 5). Suicide and alcohol-specific causes accounted for 14.4% (112 deaths) and 9.8% (76 deaths) of estimated deaths of homeless people in 2019 respectively | ONS, UK
Rough sleeping questionnaire: initial findings
Initial findings: understanding the multiple vulnerabilities, support needs and experiences of people who sleep rough in England | Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, UK
Five ways to tackle Scotland's drugs crisis
Scotland has the highest rate of drug-related deaths in Europe and the numbers are continuing to rise at an alarming speed | BBC, UK
Vastly differing opioid prescribing patterns in England even in similarly deprived areas
Opioid prescribing patterns vary hugely across England, even in similarly deprived areas, reveals an analysis of general practice data, published online in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health | Medical Xpress, UK
Drug-related Deaths in Scotland in 2019
Statistics of drug-related deaths in 2019 and earlier years, broken down by cause of death, selected drugs reported, age and sex. Statistics show the number of drug-related deaths in Scotland increased by 6%, from 1,187 in 2018 to 1,264 in 2019, the highest number since records began in 1996 | National Records of Scotland, UK
Drug-related death statistics 2019
Responding to the statistics, Public Health Minister Joe FitzPatrick acknowledged the scale of the public health challenge. Along with its partners, the Scottish Government is taking a range of steps to alleviate the problem of substance misuse, and to reduce the number of deaths | Scottish Government, UK
Scotland's drug-related death toll more than 3.5 times rate for whole UK
Experts condemn public health emergency as ‘national tragedy and disgrace’ | Guardian, UK
New research project to inform Scotland's drug deaths response
Researchers from the University of Glasgow are launching a new research project to inform responses to drug-related harms and deaths in Scotland | University of Glasgow, UK
Health Survey for England 2019 Adults’ health-related behaviours (PDF)
Includes data on adults' health-related behaviours. 18% of men and 15% of women currently smoke cigarettes. 7% of men and 5% of women currently use e-cigarettes. 57% of adults drank at levels which put them at lower risk of alcohol-related harm, that is, 14 units or less in the last week | NHS Digital, UK
Young people who go to bed later drink and smoke more due to their impulsivity
Young people who prefer to stay up late are more impulsive than their peers who go to bed earlier, which makes them more likely to drink alcohol and smoke, a new study in the journal Chronobiology International, reports | University of Surrey, UK
COVID-19: impact on STIs, HIV and viral hepatitis
Report assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on prevention, testing, diagnosis and care for STIs, HIV and hepatitis in England | PHE, UK
Role of grooming of women involved in violent crime examined as part of new gangs guidance
The guidance, Decision-making in ‘gang’ related offences, has been drawn up by the Crown Prosecution Service to give lawyers practical advice on building the strongest possible cases and gathering robust evidence to present to the court. It covers a wide range of issues related to gang offending including gang culture, the use of drill music and social media as well as an examination of tactics used by county lines gangs to recruit vulnerable victims | CPS.gov.uk, UK
Nicola Sturgeon says Scottish drug deaths record 'indefensible'
Scotland's record on drug deaths is "indefensible" and the government must do more to save lives, the country's first minister has admitted | BBC, UK
Lockdown drives up lager sales but wipes £180m off makeup
Supermarket figures capture the way Covid has changed our habits – and Corona lager has been very popular | Guardian, UK
London comes together to treat hepatitis C during lockdown
Today the London Joint Working Group on Substance Use and Hepatitis C (LJWG) launched a report, supported by the Mayor of London, to spotlight the partnership that came together to offer hepatitis C testing and treatment interventions for the homeless population in London during the Covid-19 pandemic | LJWG, UK
Smokefree Skills: Training needs of mental health nurses and psychiatrists (PDF)
A new report published today by Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) has found the current training of mental health nurses and psychiatrists to help their patients quit smoking is woefully inadequate and risks leaving people behind as the Government commits to delivering a smokefree nation by 2030. Press release here | ASH, UK
Could physical activity help minimize drug and alcohol use?
Figures and surveys have shown that high-risk alcohol consumption increased during lockdown periods, while exercise decreased. Now researchers are exploring whether increased physical activity could help reduce alcohol and drug misuse long after social restrictions have lifted | Medical Xpress, UK
New psychoactive substances: global markets, glocal threats and the COVID-19 pandemic — an update from the EU Early Warning System
In this update from the the EU Early Warning System aims to provide insights into what is happening with new psychoactive substances in Europe, based on data from the agency’s early warning and risk-assessment activities. The report covers the period until October 2020 and this year focuses on global markets, glocal threats and the COVID-19 pandemic | EMCDDA, Portugal