New addiction centre in Derry needed 'urgently'

This comes as MPs on Westminster’s Northern Ireland Affairs Committee have been told that the government is working with the Department of Health and will provide the committee with an update on funding for a new addiction centre in the city. Chris Flatt, Director, Strategy at the NIO, said they were in touch with the Department of Health and awaiting a business case.

The Head of Treatment at the Northlands Addiction Treatment Centre, Tommy Canning, says last week’s report from the Northern Ireland Statistical Research Agency (NISRA) – revealing the high number of alcohol-specific deaths in Northern Ireland – reinforced the need for the new centre and reminded us of its urgency.

"The latest NISRA statistics make frightening reading,” Mr Canning says. “They show that 351 alcohol-specific deaths were registered last year. That was exactly the same number as in the previous year and significantly more than 10 years earlier.

“It means that on average, almost every day in Northern Ireland, last year and the year before, somebody died because of the way they misused alcohol. If someone was dying every day as a result of the Troubles or on our roads, there would rightly be an outcry. But alcohol-specific deaths are hardly registering with the public at large.

“For the families and friends of those whose lives are being lost, every death is a tragedy. Sadder, still, many may have been preventable.

“The new statistics from NISRA show there were almost four times as many alcohol-specific deaths in the most deprived areas as there were in the least deprived, and that the Western area had the highest age-standardised rate of alcohol-specific deaths of all the Health and Social Care Trusts in Northern Ireland. While men account for almost two thirds of the deaths, the evidence points to an increasing death rate among women.

“The latest figures from NISRA reinforce the need for the new addiction centre referred to almost three years ago in New Decade, New Approach and remind us of its urgency. There is little sympathy for those whose lives are being lost to alcohol misuse. Yet, addiction is an illness – not a choice – and we should begin treating it as such.

“Very few of us are untouched by addiction. It affects people from all walks of life, from all social classes, of all genders and denominations. It can destroy lives – not just the sufferers' lives, but their families' and friends' lives, too. Thankfully, though, as we, in Northlands have shown, with timely intervention and the right treatment, recovery is possible.

"We are convinced that with proper support and investment we could save many lives that would otherwise be lost unnecessarily. A properly resourced addiction centre – as envisaged in New Decade, New Approach – would make a huge and positive difference to the lives of addicts and their loved ones. It is high time that the promise hinted at in the agreement was fulfilled, and that the new centre was delivered."