Jack Wall
Question:129 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for Health and Children the number of psychologists available within his Department to deal with persons suffering from drug addiction; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9201/01]
Written Answers. - Drug Treatment Services.
My Department does not directly employ psychologists to deal with persons suffering from drug addiction. The ten health boards have statutory responsibility for the provision of drug treatment services and they employ experts in this area and advise me when necessary. Three consultant psychiatrists with an expertise in drug misuse are responsible for the clinical management of drug misuse services in the health boards in the Eastern area where the majority of drug misusers reside. In all boards, following initial assessment, people requiring counselling and/or treatment will be referred to the relevant specialist for these services.
Policy decisions are made based on international experience of best practice and on input from experts in the field of drug addiction and those working in the services of the health boards.
Jack Wall
Question:130 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for Health and Children if he has satisfied himself with the information available within the educational system to deal with drug addiction; the plans he has to improve the position; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9202/01]
Primary responsibility for the provision of information within the educational system to deal with drug addiction rests with my colleague Deputy Michael Woods, Minister for Education and Science. However, I am satisfied this information and the programmes being delivered through the formal and non-formal educational sectors are effective in helping young people to make responsible decisions regarding the use of all drugs, both legal and illegal, in their lives.
The substance abuse prevention programme is a drug education and prevention programme for both primary and post-primary schools. The primary programme is the responsibility of the Department of Education and Science. The post primary programme is offered nation wide through a partnership between my Department and the Department of Education and Science. This programme undertakes to extensively train teachers in the methodologies required to deliver this type of programme. Teachers and schools are then supported by regional health promotion officers from the health boards.
Social, personal and health education (SPHE) is a broad based lifeskills programme which has been incorporated into the curriculum of the junior cycle since September of last year. A support service to implement the programme has been established through a partnership between my Department and the Department of Education and Science, in conjunction with regional health boards, Marino Institute and the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment. The substance abuse prevention programme will be incorporated into the SPHE programme in the future. Over the years a range of other programmes have been developed and implemented within schools that aim to offset or at least delay the onset of smoking, alcohol misuse and drug use. These programmes included the SmokeBusters programme, the Teaching Everyone About Cancer and Health (TEACH) programme and other regional and local initiatives supported by health boards and the health promotion unit of my Department.
Within the informal education and youth sector the National Youth Health programme has been developed through a partnership between my Department, the Department of Education and Science and the National Youth Council of Ireland. This programme provides training and support for a range of initiatives aimed at the youth sector nationwide. The programmes supported include the youth work support pack for dealing with the drugs issue, Knowledge is Power and Drink Awareness for Everyone. A range of other training and support is offered to youth groups and youth work leaders to assist them in dealing with the issue of drugs, alcohol and smoking as they arise in their work.
Also within the youth sector a substantial number of drugs education workers have been appointed and supported.
My Department and health boards will continue to support schools and the non-formal education sector in their efforts to create a greater awareness of drug issues among young people and to equip young people with the skills necessary to make responsible decisions regarding the use of drugs.
Jack Wall
Question:131 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for Health and Children the number of seminars organised by his Department in relation to the drug problem over the past five years in each health authority; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9203/01]
The provision of services and organising of seminars in relation to drug misuse is a matter for health boards in the first instance. Funding is provided by my Department to health boards each year in their letters of determination to develop a range of appropriate responses to the drug problems in the respective boards. This would include initiatives to raise people's awareness of the drug problem or training seminars for those involved in delivering services to young people and also to those providing treatment. It is not possible to put a figure on the number of seminars which have taken place in health boards over the past five years. However, it would be fair to say that a large number have taken place and the following gives an outline of the types of programmes and interventions being undertaken.
My Department, through the health promotion unit, runs, or is involved in a number of initiatives which are aimed at tackling and reducing the number of young people misusing substances nationwide and most particularly within the eastern region, where the majority of problem drug misusers reside. These initiatives include supporting drug education and prevention programmes and social and personal health education (SPHE), a broad based lifeskills programme for junior certificate students, in schools. A support service to implement this programme has been established through a partnership between my Department and the Department of Education and Science, in conjunction with health boards, Marino Institute and the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment. The substance abuse prevention programme On My Own Two Feet will be incorpor ated into the SPHE programme in the future. Teachers and schools are also often supported by regional health education officers from the health boards. Part of this support would include running regional and local seminars.
Within the youth sector the national youth health programme has been developed through a partnership between my Department, the Department of Education and Science and the National Youth Council of Ireland. This programme provides training and support for a range of initiatives aimed at the youth sector nationwide. The programmes supported include the youth work support pack for dealing with the drugs issue, Knowledge is Power and Drink Awareness for Everyone. A range of other training and support is offered to youth groups and youth work leaders to assist them to deal with the issue of drugs, alcohol and smoking as they arise in their work. Also within the youth sector a substantial number of drugs education workers have been appointed and supported. Once again regular meetings and seminars are organised to provide this training and support.
Within the community setting Drugs Questions, Local Answers is a community based programme offered by health boards which aims to activate local communities to assess the drug problem specific to their own area and then to look at ways in which the community can respond to the issues arising. The programme was developed by the health promotion unit of my Department and is delivered regionally by local people who have been trained in delivering the programme. Being Well is another community based programme which has been developed by the health promotion unit. This programme encourages people to take a holistic approach to their health but also looks specifically at smoking and alcohol. Again this programme is supported by regional health boards and delivered by local people, who have been appropriately trained.
There is also a need to target interventions on drug education at parents. In this regard Family, Communication and Self Esteem is a parenting programme which aims to look at ways in which parents can pro-actively deal with the issue of drugs within the home. This programme is supported at a regional level by health boards. A range of other parenting interventions are also supported by my Department at a regional and local level.
Health boards also fund a number of voluntary organisations whose work involves prevention and treatment of drug misuse and these organisations would have run seminars with financial support from the boards. Agencies such as the Irish College of General Practitioners and the Irish Pharmaceutical Society have also run training seminars for their members, which have been funded by health boards.
Jack Wall
Question:132 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for Health and Children the number of drugs addiction centres which have been funded by his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9204/01]
The health boards have statutory responsibility for the provision of drug treatment services including the number of treatment facilities available. There are currently 55 treatment locations in the Eastern Regional Health Authority area including the mobile methadone bus service. There are two centres in the Midland Health Board and two centres in the South Eastern Health Board. The number of treatment facilities has risen from three to the present number in the last six years. In addition, health boards provide financial assistance to a number of centres run by non-statutory agencies which provide drug-free treatment and rehabilitation to drug misusers. Examples of such centres are Aislinn in Ballyragget in Kilkenny, Cuan Mhuire in Athy and Bruree and Anchor House in Cork.
Jack Wall
Question:133 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for Health and Children the number of addicts and reformed addicts attending each of the clinics over the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9205/01]
Data on the number of people attending drug treatment facilities are provided by the drug misuse research division of the Health Research Board in its statistical bulletin on the national drug treatment reporting system. The most recent years for which statistics are available are 1996, 1997 and 1998. Figures for 1999 will be published later this year. The number of treatment contacts by health board for each of those years are as follows:
|
Health Board |
1996 |
1997 |
1998 |
|
Eastern Health Board |
4,283 |
4,243 |
5,155 |
|
Midland Health Board |
63 |
61 |
85 |
|
Mid-Western Health Board |
83 |
210 |
200 |
|
North-Western Health Board |
13 |
17 |
45 |
|
South-Eastern Health Board |
131 |
149 |
216 |
|
Southern Health Board |
281 |
230 |
263 |
|
Western Health Board |
11 |
0 |
8 |
|
North-Eastern Health Board |
0 |
0 |
71 |
|
Total |
4,865 |
4,910 |
6,043 |
Returns were made by 86, 68, and 100 service locations in the years 1996, 1997 and 1998 respectively.
The central methadone treatment list also provides information on the number of people nationally on methadone treatment and data for the past five years is as follows:
Number in treatment at various clinics 1996-2000
|
Location |
End of year |
End of year |
End of year |
End of year |
End of year |
|
1996 |
1997 |
1998 |
1999 |
2000 |
|
|
EHB clinics |
616 |
1,182 |
1,939 |
2,502 |
2,849 |
|
Provincial Clinics |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
41 |
|
GPs in East |
985 |
1,470 |
1,167 |
1,252 |
1,574 |
|
GPs in other Boards |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
63 |
55 |
|
Drug Treatment Centre, Trinity Court |
260 |
207 |
504 |
515 |
513 |
|
Total |
1,861 |
2,859 |
3,610 |
4,332 |
5,032 |
As the Deputy can see, services have continued to expand in recent years to provide appropriate drug treatment to all who need it.
Question No. 134 answered with Question No. 120.