Call for ‘responsible’ action as anthrax outbreak spreads

01 February 2010
The Scottish government has been called on to implement an ‘emergency public health plan’, including prescription of appropriate alternatives to street heroin, in response to the outbreak of anthrax cases, among injecting drug users in Scotland (DDN, 18 January, page 4)
A letter signed by leading drugs organisations including Release, the International Harm Reduction Association (IHRA), Transform and the Alliance has been sent to health secretary Nicola Sturgeon calling for action and branding Health Protection Scotland’s advice to heroin users to stop using or seek treatment ‘reckless’ in light of long waiting times. As DDN went to press, there were 17 confirmed cases of anthrax – including the first case in the Ayrshire and Arran NHS district – and eight deaths, with Health Protection Scotland warning that ‘heroin users all across Scotland need to be aware of the risk that their supply may be contaminated.’ ‘We are calling upon the Scottish government to respond to this health crisis in a responsible manner with the aim of trying to prevent further deaths,’ says the letter.

This should include the prescribing of dihydrocodeine by GPs, it states. ‘Failure to adopt such a policy would mean that the Scottish state would be failing in their duty to its citizens,’ says the letter, adding that waiting times in Scotland for opiate substitute medication are the longest in the UK. ‘Many of those accessing services are informed that it is a condition of their treatment to engage with the service for a minimum period of time before they will be entitled to a prescription offering an alternative substitute medication, usually methadone. In some areas of Scotland we have been informed that waiting times for (opiate substitute medication) can be up to 12 months.’Meanwhile a briefing document for people working with heroin users – whether in treatment or other relevantservices like mental health, criminal justice, family support or homelessness – has been produced by the Scottish Drugs Forum to help detect early signs of anthrax and ensure people receive medical help. An anthrax-related death in an injecting drug user in Germany has also now been reported. Anthrax and heroin users: what workers need to know available at www.sdf.org.uk
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