NHS to play active role in prevention

Every
health authority and primary care trust in England must invest in
long-term drug prevention, following a statement by health minister
Hazel Blears last week.

Health
authorities will be required to provide proactive drug prevention
work with vulnerable young people and enable primary care
professionals to support primary school teachers in delivering
personal, social and health education.

Through
this initiative the NHS will be able to play a more active part in
local drug prevention activities with schools, the police,
probation and youth offending teams.

The
government aims to reduce the proportion of people under 25
reporting the use of Class A drugs by 25 per cent by 2005 and 50
per cent by 2008.

To fund
this drug education and prevention work health authorities will
receive an additional £8m this year followed by further
funding over the next few years.

A
government action plan to reduce drug-related deaths was also
announced by Blears. The three- to five-year programme of
campaigns, surveillance work and research is intended to help the
government achieve its objective of cutting drug-related deaths by
20 per cent by 2004.

As part
of the plan drug treatment staff will receive training on overdose
prevention and how to reduce injecting and syringe sharing, while
drug action teams will be given guidance on running local inquiries
into drug-related deaths.

–
Children, young people and families with drug and alcohol problems
need to have better access to community and family support,
according to the Health Advisory Service’s 2001 review. The
Substance of Young Needs Review 2001 from 0870 241 4680.