Mr Patsy McGlone (Mid Ulster): To ask the Minister of Health what assessment has been made of the level of drug and alcohol addiction, in each of the last five years.
Minister of Health: Statistics from the Substance Misuse Database are published annually on the Department of Health’s website at: https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/articles/drugs-statistics. This annual publication summarises information on people presenting to services with problem drug and/or alcohol use by recording clients first presenting to treatment services, as opposed to the number currently in treatment.
The table below shows the last 4 years this information was available:
| 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | |
| Total drug and alcohol clients recorded on Substance Misuse Database | 3,718 | 2,920 | 3,092 | 2,960 |
Over the last number of years, Northern Ireland has been seeing increasing risk in relation to substance use related harm. In general, alcohol and drug related deaths have increased over the past decade. This has been exacerbated by rising polydrug misuse and an increase in the complexity of cases presenting for treatment, which has put additional strain on already stretched services.
That is why work is continuing to implement Northern Ireland’s substance use strategy, Preventing Harm Empowering Recovery. Given the nature of the issues, and the overlap with wider societal factors such as poverty and deprivation; homelessness; employment and economic development; mental health and trauma; paramilitarism, community relations and justice; and the legacy of the past, addressing this issue also requires a joined-up approach across the whole Executive.
ENDS
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