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Adverse consequences of drugs and alcohol are visible everywhere in public life, political discourse and personal situations affecting increasing numbers of individuals and families.
Alcohol Use
Globally, alcohol kills 3 million people every year. The Covid pandemic saw a huge increase in alcohol harm and death. The health consequences of alcohol touch every field of clinical practice. Yet it seldom receives the attention it deserves, the extent and nature of alcohol health harm are not widely recognised and effective measures in both public health and clinical practice are seldom implemented. This symposium will demonstrate that clinicians have an important role to play in the many proven ways to reduce the health burden of alcohol. It aims to correct the perception that despite alcohol being everybody’s problem, few think it is their job to address it, and will be of interest to clinicians from all fields of primary and secondary care.
This symposium will inform clinicians about:
- What works in public health policies.
- How to approach the question of alcohol use in their patients.
- What measures to implement in primary and secondary care practice.
- What’s known in these key areas of alcohol health harm:
o Cancer
o Cardiovascular disease
o Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
o Liver disease
o Mental Health
Substance Use
In the medical arena there is hardly a speciality or department that doesn’t see problematic manifestations of psychoactive drug use. The well publicised appalling death rate from drug use in Scotland is the most visible harm caused by drugs but the impact on lives of individuals and families extends much wider.
Complicating a moving target of new substances causing harm are the black market and criminal justice elements of the landscape of drug problems and the stigma and marginalisation connected with people who use drugs. An historic lack of engagement by medical research, industry and government has allowed a relative hiatus in our understanding of what we should do to intervene in the, often complex, lives of people who use drugs.
This symposium is an opportunity to hear about the medical issues around drugs and to learn about new and exciting interventions and treatments. There is a message for all of us, whatever is our special area of expertise or interest. Along with recognising the importance of managing the drug problem comes the responsibility to work together to be sure that drug dependency problems are managed at a level comparable to other areas of treatment. Today’s meeting is a blend of epidemiological and data evidence linking into clinical applications and public health policy. There is something in it for everyone and it is likely that we shall all visualise a role we have to play in highlighting the importance of drug problems and using our positions to provide care or to influence the research and policy landscape.