My statement provides an update on the action that we are taking to tackle the continued rise in the number of drug deaths in Scotland. The situation that we face is a public health emergency. The latest figures from National Records of Scotland show that 1,187 people lost their lives in 2018 as a result of drug use. Each and every one of those deaths is a tragedy for the individual and for their family, friends and community. I am sure that I speak for the whole chamber when I send my sincerest condolences to all those people who have lost a loved one.
Last month, National Records of Scotland published its “Annual Review of Demographic Trends”, which showed that life expectancy improvements in Scotland have stalled. The number of drug-related deaths has been highlighted as one of the reasons for that change. The NRS’s two reports put into stark reality the effect that drug use has on the population of Scotland.
Sunday 1 September marked international overdose awareness day—a day that has come to be an all-too-painful reminder to many people across our country in recent years. To mark the day, I attended an event hosted by Addaction Dundee at which I heard directly from a range of people who have been affected by the loss of a family member, friend or loved one from substance use. I know that members across the chamber also attended events around the country, and we are all indebted to those who had the courage to speak.
Deaths caused by substance use are avoidable. This Government, this Parliament and the nation need to work together to address this emergency. I am determined that we will continue to do all that we can with the powers that we have and to press the United Kingdom Government to work with us on this vital issue to deliver change.
I am asking for the continued support of Parliament for the actions that we are taking—in particular, support for the new drug deaths task force. There is no easy solution; we need to look to the evidence to see what has worked both internationally and closer to home. For example, we know that individuals engaging with treatment services can have a protective effect, so it is vital that we do all that we can to increase the number of people who do so, particularly among those who are most at risk.
We also know, from the evidence, that opioid substitution therapy can save lives, reduce the risk of lethal relapse, improve quality of life and reduce crime. We need to do more to ensure that its use is not further stigmatised and to make it easier for those who need such therapy to access it. That may happen through the provision of low-threshold services or through our doing more to address the high levels of discharge from some services as well as ensuring that people are on an optimal dose. The new task force’s central aim will be to identify measures to improve health by preventing and reducing drug use, harm and related deaths. It will also examine other factors that are key drivers of drug deaths, and it will advise on further changes in practice or in the law that could help to save lives and reduce harm.
I have asked Professor Catriona Matheson, who is an internationally respected expert in addiction studies at the University of Stirling, to chair the group. There will be representation from Police Scotland and the Crown Office, the Royal College of General Practitioners and Community Justice Scotland, as well as the chief medical officer and the chief social work officer, among others. The task force will also include voices of lived and living experience, giving both the perspective of an individual in recovery and the perspective of family members. That is an integral part of the work, and that input into the meetings will be invaluable.
I met Professor Matheson this week to discuss the upcoming work ahead of the first full meeting of the task force, which will take place on 17 September. We are both clear that the group needs to identify areas for change or improvement quickly rather than meet for months and then issue a final report. We need action soon.
Beyond the setting up of the group, a significant amount of activity has been going on. For example, Professor Matheson has begun to take on additional engagements in her new role, which includes engaging with the chief pharmacist to discuss the stocking of naloxone in pharmacies and the introduction of a community recovery event in Kilmarnock, which is aimed at developing evidence at a community level.
Much other on-going work will also make a difference for those who are living with problem substance use. For example, our new alcohol and drug strategy, which we published at the end of last year and which sees substance use as a public health issue and, importantly, recognises the rights of those people who are impacted by it, has been broadly welcomed. The rights-based approach that is set out in the strategy has been taken up by the Scottish Recovery Consortium, which has been exploring just what taking a rights-based approach to recovery means.
In July, we published a partnership delivery framework that sets out a shared ambition across local government and Scottish Government that local areas should have in place specific arrangements around substance use. Furthermore, in the coming weeks, an action plan that sets out how the Government, in collaboration with a range of partners, will deliver on the remaining commitments in the strategy will go out for further consultation with our alcohol and drug partnerships, followed by publication in October.
We will also shortly consult on a workforce development framework that has been developed with the Scottish Drugs Forum, which will support the workforce to better identify and support people who experience alcohol and drug problems. In August, the Dundee commission, which was looking specifically at drug deaths, published its findings. Prior to that, I had met the chair of the commission and the authors of the report to discuss how we can enact some of its recommendations.
Over the summer, I gave evidence to the Scottish Affairs Committee at Westminster as part of its helpful and wide-ranging inquiry into problem drug use in Scotland. Thus far, the Home Office has failed to give evidence to the inquiry, which is frustrating, because drugs law that affects Scotland’s ability to take a public health approach is reserved.
In August, the Office for National Statistics published the latest figures for deaths relating to drug poisoning in England and Wales, which showed that they are at the highest level on record. With figures like that, surely we should be able to work together across Parliaments on the issue. Following the publication of the Scottish figures, I contacted the previous Home Secretary, and I have since written to the new Home Secretary twice, asking the United Kingdom Government to engage with us. That included an invitation to come to Scotland to take part in a summit on this vital issue. So far, I have not had a response. I am adamant that the issue should not be a political or constitutional one, and I would welcome a commitment from the UK Government to work with us.
One area that was the focus of my session at the inquiry and that has come up numerous times since the publication of the drug-related death figures is the introduction of an overdose prevention facility in Glasgow. In June, I visited such a facility in Paris, and I am convinced by the evidence that it could make a massive difference to many people in the most desperate circumstances. We have repeatedly asked the UK Government to allow us to move forward with the introduction of that type of service, and the First Minister raised the issue at her first meeting with the Prime Minister.
Although that is an important proposal, it is not the answer to all our problems. As I have said before, we need to be open to exploring new ideas that are supported by evidence and that might make a difference. One such proposal is the introduction of a heroin-assisted treatment service, which the health and social care partnership in Glasgow is progressing and which is expected to open later this year. That service can treat only a small number of people compared to an overdose prevention facility, but it provides the option of prescribing heroin to people who have been in and out of treatment services for a number of years, which could be the difference between life and death for them. The task force will also consider drug testing, as has been offered at a number of festivals and other sites in England.
Recognising the problem is only the first part of finding the solution. Since 2008, we have invested nearly £800 million in tackling problem alcohol and drug use. In our programme for government, we have allocated a further £10 million for the next two years specifically to support local services and provide targeted support. That is in addition to the £20 million per year that was delivered through the programme for government in 2017 and that is continuing to make a difference to treatment services.
That new money will go towards initiatives that will change and improve the lives of those who are affected by problem substance use. The money will allow our new task force to support pathfinder projects, test new approaches and drive forward specific work, which is based on evidence, to improve the quality of services. It will also allow us to establish joint-working protocols between alcohol and drug services and mental health services, with the aim of improving access, assessment and outcomes for individuals, and to develop and test integrated services for mental health and alcohol and drug use. Further, the money will aid us in developing a new national pathway for opiate replacement therapy, which will increase its effectiveness across the country. Crucially, that work will help us to reduce the stigma that is associated with the use of such therapy.
I know that health spokespeople across the Parliament want to make progress in the area. I welcome the fact that, in advance of the first meeting of the drug deaths task force, the spokespeople have accepted an offer from Professor Matheson to meet and discuss the subject. Cross-party support will be vital as we try to address this tragic loss of life and improve the health of those who are most impacted by problematic substance use. I am committed to working across the chamber, and I hope that the spokespeople will make a similar commitment to work with me as we seek to make a real difference to this vulnerable section of society.
I will finish by reminding members of an upcoming event. September is international recovery month. As part of that, the Scottish Recovery Consortium and its friends and partners organise a recovery walk. This year, the walk will take place on 21 September in Inverness, and I will be there, as I was in Glasgow last year and in Dundee the year before. I am sure that it will be a fantastic celebration of all things recovery. The day includes a roses ceremony to commemorate each of the lives lost to substance use in the previous year. That is a particularly poignant moment, and that visual representation of the scale of loss sits heavily with me.
I am determined that I will do everything that I can to reduce the harms associated with substance use. I call on everyone across the chamber to join us and help to save lives.