Industry News – W/C 05/12/2022
Check Your Kit: Prenoxad injectable naloxone kits may be incomplete
The UK Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency issued a Class 4 Medicines Notification on the 10th November 2022 to anybody who supplies and possesses a naloxone kit stating that some kits may have been supplied incomplete. All naloxone supplied is safe to use, however it appears that some batches may contain only one or no needles instead of two.
You can check whether your kit has two needles by holding it up to a strong light which should then show two distinct dark rectangles showing that it contains two needles. More information on how to check your kit and/or access a new one can be found here.
National Mission on Drugs: Annual report 2021 to 2022
The Scottish Government have released the National Mission on Drugs annual report which sets our progress made between January 2021 and March 2022. The report details how national government, local government and third sector partners have worked towards reducing drug deaths and improving the lives of those impacted by drugs in Scotland. Access the report here.
The Global State of Harm Reduction 2022
This newly published report from Harm Reduction International provides an independent analysis of harm reduction, mapping harm reduction responses to drug use, HIV and viral hepatitis. This latest edition includes data on the availability of safer smoking kits and stimulant pharmacotherapy, a chapter on the ongoing impact of COVID-19 on harm reduction, data on the number of people who inject drugs and the number of people in prison for drug use globally, and key legal/policy developments related to harm reduction. Access the report here.
BuddyUp Pilot Begins
Cranstoun have launched a new app which will provide support to people using drugs along, beginning its pilot period shortly. ‘BuddyUp’ has been designed to connect someone using drugs to a member of staff who will be trained to respond to overdoses and will be able to send emergency support should the person become unresponsive. During the pilot, BuddyUp will run with selective hours with the ambition to have expanded the service across the UK and Ireland. Find out more here.
File on 4: High Anxiety – The deadly trade in street Valium
This Radio 4 programme talks to those whose lives have been impacted by benzodiazepine use which has become a major feature of the illicit drugs market in Scotland. The programme includes stories from people with lived experience of benzo use, a mother who has lost her daughter to a fatal overdose, a teenager with experience of use of the online market, and an expert who believes benzo influence is spreading. Listen here.
From Connection to Recovery: Just Humans podcast
In this episode of the ‘Just Humans’ podcast Grayson Bartels, a PhD student at the University of Edinburgh researching how people in prison recover from problem substance use, discusses his own experiences of addiction, the emotional cost of this kind of research and why he thinks connection is the essential ingredient to recovery. Listen here.
Health Inequalities in Scotland: An independent review
Earlier this year, the MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit was commissioned by the Health Foundation to review the existing evidence on trends in health inequalities in Scotland since devolution. The report, ‘Trends in deaths, health and wellbeing, health behaviours, and health services since 2000’ is now available, including information on substance use, and can be accessed here. Key findings include:
- Inequalities are large
- Health consistently worsens as deprivation increases for all health and mortality outcomes examined.
- Young and middle-aged men are fairing particularly badly – they are more likely to experience deaths of despair (suicide, drugs and alcohol).
- The widening of inequalities in some early years’ outcomes, such as childhood immunisations and risk of obesity, may lead to wider inequalities in adulthood.
- Health inequalities in Scotland are not inevitable.
ReacH Seminar Series: Sexual heath and blood borne viruses
On the 12th December 2-4pm, the Research Centre for Health (ReaCH) will be hosting this online event exploring mental health needs of gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men in Scotland, post COVID-19. The seminar will discuss latest research findings, share evidence-based recommendations for Mental Health service provision in Scotland, and host discussion sessions with participants to hear views on the findings and examine how they can be incorporated into everyday life and work. Register for the session here.
AFINet Webinar Series
The AFINet webinar series continues on 13th December at 2pm, discussing ‘Affected family members of disordered gamblers during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy during Lockdown.’ Maria Anna Donati, University of Florence will present on the topic, followed by a Q&A.
A second webinar is scheduled for 16th February 2023 at 2pm, this time exploring ‘CRAFT and parent training, delivered online: and RCT’. This webinar delivered by Dr Ancers Hammarberg and Ola Siljeholm, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden will report on an RCT of an online delivered CRAFT and parent training. The implications of the results will be discussed, both for future research and for the development of effective interventions.
You can register for the sessions here.
Managing Drugs & Alcohol Problems in Primary Care 2023
Addiction Professionals and the Royal College of General Practitioners will be hosting their annual Conference on the 16th and 17th March 2023 in London. The event will explore topics relating to hepatitis C, the opioid crisis in the USA and what the UK can learn from this, as well as wider topics including gaming addiction. For more information and to book a place visit the Addictions Professionals website.
Harm Reduction Conference 2023: Strength in Solidarity
Registration for the Harm Reduction International Conference 2023 is now open. The event will be taking place in Melbourne, Australia across the 16th-19th April 2023. More details on how to attend the Conference virtually will be released in due course. Early bird pricing structure is as follows:
- £595, High Income Countries
- £495, Low Income Countries
More information on the Conference, including registration, scholarships and the awards scheme can be accessed here.
LGBTQIA+ Experiences of Substance Use Treatment or Support Services
Researchers at Glasgow Caledonian University are seeking responses to a survey to improve knowledge on the experience of LGBTQIA+ people with substance use treatment and support services. If you identify as LGBTQIA+, have ever engaged with substance use treatment/support in the UK, and are over 18, you will be eligible to take part. Access the survey here.
Scottish Drugs Forum: Addiction/Recovery worker training programme
The Scottish Drugs Forum supports, trins and prepares people with personal lived and living experience of their own substance use, to enter the drug, alcohol and wider social care workforce through their Addiction/Recovery worker training programme. The programme provides:
- Access to a programme of quality assured training from their specialist workforce development teams
- A fully funded SVQ level 2 in Social Sciences and Healthcare with their SQA Learning Centre
- Intensive support, extending to IT and includes a device to use and also access to a confidential Employee Assistance programme
The course lasts a total of 39 weeks which is covered by a salary. SDF will be hosting an information session held via Zoom on the 20th December 10am-12pm or 1pm-3pm, as well as an in-person session on the 17th January at 10am in Glasgow. For more information on how to apply for the training and attend one of the information sessions, visit the SDF website.
Developing and Evaluating Complex Interventions
This online course, delivered by Dr Kathryn Skivington, University of Glasgow, will provide participants with an understanding of the complex intervention research process. Presentations and activities will relate to the main concepts of developing/identifying and evaluating complex interventions and support participants to apply the principles to their own research. The course will take place between 7th-15th March 2023, running from 10am-1pm each day and participants will need access to Zoom to participate.
The fee per teaching day is £30 per day for students/ £60 per day for staff working for academic institutions, Research Councils and other recognised research institutions, registered charity organisations and the public sector/ £100 per day for all other participants. More information and registration can be accessed here.
