Advocacy

In order to mark the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, on June 26, Dianova launches an international campaign to raise awareness of the need that addiction services be on par with other healthcare services and that they be given similar levels of attention and support.

The cosequences of the pandemic had, and are still having, negative effects on people with substance use disorders or in recovery.

In some cases, health systems initially thought of as solid have been unable to provide these professionals with basic personal protection equipment or financial support to buy them. Be that as it may, our addiction professionals have been carrying out their duties with intellect and integrity despite these difficult and often dangerous circumstances, providing vulnerable people with appropriate counselling and support. They kept on working.  

This anniversary provides a perfect occasion for us to step up and demand that addiction services be on par with other healthcare services and that they be given similar levels of attention and support. Should another crisis of this nature arise, addiction services shouldn’t be the poor relation of the public health system any longer.

Substance use and other addictive disorders are a matter of public health and addiction services should therefore be considered as essential. 

Just one among many lessons, this pandemic is teaching us the pressing need to reaffirm and uphold the universal Right to Health. Leaving No one Behind, as per the Agenda 2030, is today an even more relevant imperative towards building a world in which all people have an equal opportunity to attain the highest possible standard of health and well-being.

According to the World Drug Report 2019, some 35 million people, up from an earlier estimate of 30.5 million reported in 2016, are affected by drug use disorders and require treatment and harm reduction services. The latest available data also indicates a staggering death toll: 585,000 people died as a result of drug use in 2017.

The challenges engendered by stay-at-home orders are likely to have had negative effects on people with substance use disorders or in recovery, including increased drug or alcohol consumption, risks of overdose, and relapse.

As emphasized in a report by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, people who use drugs face additional risks of infection by Covid-19 as compared to the general population, because of lifestyle factors and pre-existing health problems.

While about one third of all people who use drugs are estimated to be women, the latter are consistently reported to be at higher risk of HIV and other infections and more at risk of experiencing intimate partner violence than women in the broader population. This phenomenon is also likely to be exacerbated in these times of crisis.

It is estimated that one in four people in the world will be affected by mental health disorders at some point in their lives placing such disorders among the leading causes of ill health and disability worldwide. This situation seems to have been worsened by the pandemic: lockdown measures and resulting economic downturn have negatively affected many people’s mental health and created new barriers for people already suffering from mental illness and substance use disorders.

Launched on the occasion of the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, on 26 June, the campaign ‘Time to recognize that addiction services are essential” aims to raise awareness of this fact while promoting the frontline role of social and health professionals in supporting the most vulnerable populations during the pandemic.

The campaign will be two-fold:

• Communication with target audiences through various platforms and channels with the objective of promoting the campaign’s core message, action and expected behaviour change;
• Communication to maintain and strengthen Dianova’s reputation and trust, and to get stakeholders to support the organization.

One of the most critical consequences of the outbreak of Covid-19 is that some of the resources dedicated to provide solutions to other important problems of society could be interrupted due to lack of investment and resources. Substance use and other addiction disorders are one of these problems and people affected by them, whom Dianova has been supporting for many years, have often been left behind.

Although it seems that everything has been put on hold during the pandemic, health professionals have kept on fulfilling their mission, and among them the professional teams in Dianova’s addiction healthcare facilities. The organization’s beneficiaries have also been committed to pursuing their treatment programme throughout the crisis, because dropping out would have given rise to other problems, potentially impacting our society as a whole.

To convey these messages, we will use the cinemagrah technique, i.e. animated gif images. This technique will help us convey two main concepts:

• When everything is on pause (part of the image is motionless)
• Some of us must go on (another part of the image is in motion while the rest is on pause)

• Should acknowledge the need to support addiction treatment services
• Should advocate the integration of addiction-related issues to public health agendas
• Should provide treatment services with sufficient resources; during the pandemic, many of these services did not receive the support they needed

• Call to action to raise resources to support addiction treatment services

• Should join this challenge and take personal or group action
• Should be made more aware of how vital addiction prevention and treatment services are in a comprehensive perspective of health, as defined by WHO
• Should develop tools to continue helping people during times of crisis (digital and other tools) – many people with substance use disorders were unable to access the support they crucially needed during the pandemic.

• Should join and support the campaign