Every year at about this time the Government publishes the number of drug related deaths registered in England and Wales in the previous year. The 2024 figures will soon be released and will no doubt be accompanied by a call for more to be done. There will be news items, interviews and editorials and for a few days these deaths will be in the spotlight. Then, inevitably, the news cycle will move on, and for most people, who will only take a passing interest in the story, that will be that for another 12 months.
For the families of course, the loss of a loved one is not something they can simply put away for another year, it is a loss that they feel every day.
Adfam who have been working with bereaved families for over 4 decades knows this only too well. When we call for more to be done, it is not a soundbite, it is borne out of the testimony of those many, many families we work with year in, year out, those who have lost someone, and those who fear losing someone.
With thousands of people dying from drug use every year, Adfam calls on the Government to help families to save lives.
Earlier this year we asked every Local Authority in England to tell us how much of their drug and alcohol budget they spent on supporting family members and carers. The average spend was just 1.57% of the budget. That is nowhere close to what is needed. Not only does it ignore the needs of family members but it fails drug and alcohol users who rely on their families for support.
Along with a marked increase in the amount spent to support family members, we want to see a commitment to encourage every family affected by drug use to attend training on how to use life saving drug naloxone in the event that a family member overdoses.
And encouragement doesn’t mean just making training available. Local areas need to be running training at times and in locations that enable families to take part. They need to facilitate peer to peer training that makes people feel comfortable and removes the hurdle of stigma. They need to offer practical support around childcare and travel costs. They need to consider family circumstances and supply families with simple to use naloxone nasal spray.
They need to do everything they can to help families to save lives.