NEWS ROUND-UP
Alcohol-specific deaths down by more than 6 per cent
There were 9,809 deaths from alcohol-specific causes registered in the UK in 2024, according to ONS – 6.3 per cent down on 2023’ s record high of 10,473. Scotland and Northern Ireland continue to have the highest rates, at 20.9 and 21.4 deaths per 100,000 respectively, with alcoholspecific deaths in Northern Ireland increasing by 80 per cent in the space of a decade.
As in previous years, the North East had the highest rate of any English region, while the death rate for men remained double that for women. The year-on-year decrease is the first since 2018, with registered alcohol-specific deaths rising by more than 38 per cent between 2019 and 2023.
Alcohol-specific fatalities only include those where the death was a direct consequence of alcohol use, such as alcoholic liver disease, and do not include all of the deaths that could be attributed to alcohol.
Although it was encouraging to see a decline,‘ the fact that around 189 people still die every week is a stark and tragic reminder of the scale of the problem,’ said Turning Point chief operating officer Clare Taylor.‘ Alcohol-related deaths are avoidable, and timely access to information, support and treatment is one of the strongest protections against harm.’
The drop‘ must not lull any of us, including the government, into a false sense of security’, stated Alcohol Change UK CEO Dr Richard Piper.‘ While a reduction from the pandemicera spike in harmful drinking
Irish treatment rates for cocaine at record levels
was expected over time, deaths are still much higher than prepandemic levels and not falling fast enough. And these figures exclude the tens of thousands more deaths where alcohol plays a role.’
The latest statistics represented a‘ step in the right direction, but we must meet it with caution, not celebration’, agreed WithYou CEO Simon Phillips, with more than 75 per cent of people with alcohol dependency still not accessing treatment.‘ The underlying challenges are pervasive and deeply concerning. Despite investment in recent years, services continue to be under pressure after years of chronic underfunding.’
Alcohol-specific deaths in the UK: registered in 2024 available at https:// www. ons. gov. uk
The drop‘ must not lull any of us, including the government, into a false sense of security.’
DR RICHARD PIPER
‘ Dedicated funding’ needed for CDPs alcoholchange. org. uk
MORE THAN 6,500 PEOPLE WERE TREATED FOR COCAINE ISSUES in Ireland last year, according to the Health Research Board( HRB) – 24 per cent up on 2024, and the highest number ever recorded. There were almost 15,500 treatment episodes for problem drug use last year, with cocaine remaining the most common drug treated – treatment demand for powder cocaine increased by 21 per cent and crack cocaine by 31 per cent. HRB has previously warned that Ireland had reached its‘ tipping point’ for problem cocaine use, with the drug overtaking heroin as the main problem substance for people seeking treatment for the first time in 2022.
Ireland has seen a 336 per cent increase in treatment cases for cocaine as the main problem drug since 2017 – a 282 per cent rise for powder cocaine and more than 900 per cent for crack. A recent study found that cocaine was now linked to almost 60 per cent of all cases of drug-related intimidation in Ireland, a‘ pervasive’ form of criminal activity affecting individuals, families and communities that is rarely reported to the authorities for fear of retaliation. The number of women seeking treatment for
The number of women seeking treatment for cocaine has increased nearly sevenfold over the last decade.
cocaine has increased nearly seven-fold over the last decade, the HRB report continues, from 284 in 2017 to more than 1,900.
National drug treatment reporting system – 2025 drug treatment demand available at https:// www. hrb. ie
THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD PROVIDE DEDICATED FUNDING for the operation of Combating Drugs Partnerships( CDPs), says a report by independent research agency Verian for the Home Office. Lack of dedicated funding is the most challenging barrier facing CDPs, it states, with partners instead expected to fund their activities through existing budgets.
Verian partnered with NatCen and CECAN to evaluate CDPs ' application of the‘ whole-system approach’ to tackling drugs, looking at how multi-agency working was being implemented at strategic and operational level, the key challenges and other issues – via interviews with stakeholders and service users, surveys, workshops and an evidence review.
The lack of dedicated funding could lead to difficulties in properly engaging partners like the NHS and PCCs, the document states, while other challenges included data sharing between organisations, leading to evidence gaps and lack of strategic alignment.
Process evaluation of Combating Drugs Partnerships available at www. gov. uk
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