Source · Select Committees · Home Affairs Committee
Recommendation 23
23
Accepted in Part
Paragraph: 99
Devise and publish a cross-departmental action plan and UK-wide campaign to tackle drug stigma.
Recommendation
We recommend that the Combating Drugs Minister leads on devising a cross- departmental action plan to tackle stigma. In devising the action plan, the Government must engage with people with lived experience of drugs and stakeholders in the drug treatment and recovery sector to understand fully how stigma can affect people and how best to tackle it. The action plan must be published before the end of February 2024. We further recommend that the Government work with the devolved administrations to roll-out a coordinated, UK-wide campaign to tackle stigma.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government partially accepts, agreeing on the importance of reducing stigma and committing to cross-government work and collaboration with devolved administrations. However, they reject the specific request for a published cross-departmental action plan, instead tasking OHID to lead a workstream and publish a report on stigma's impact.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
99
Government Response
Accepted in Part
HM Government · verbatim extract
Accepted in Part
The Government partially accepts this recommendation. The Department for Health and Social Care will explore with all relevant departments how best to tackle stigma within the health and social care system. The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) is already supporting a specific programme in Project ADDER sites on tackling stigma. One of five priorities in OHID’s Reducing Drug & Alcohol Related Deaths Action Plan is to reduce stigma for people who use drugs and alcohol as well as for their families and carers. The headline intervention is to adopt and adapt an evidence-based Australian intervention across a range of partner 9 Overview | Needle and syringe programmes | Guidance | NICE agencies within eight self-selected ADDER sites.10 This is a two-year programme planned to commence in early 2024 and if proven effective then it is proposed that it will be scaled- up nationally. We were concerned to hear about the barriers people, such as women and black, Asian and minority ethnic people, can face when accessing treatment. No-one should be unable, or feel unable, to receive treatment and support.
Read the full response on Parliament ↗