New review on drugs and driving
Cited from Drugnet Europe No 87, July–September 2014
An estimated 28,000 lives are lost on Europe’s roads every year and a further 1.34 million people are injured. Many of these accidents and deaths are caused by drivers whose performance is impaired by a psychoactive substance. Alcohol remains the number one substance endangering lives on European roads, but use of drugs and medicines behind the wheel, particularly when combined with alcohol, is a major challenge for policymakers. A new EMCDDA report — Drug use, impaired driving and traffic accidents — reviews the latest research in this field.1
Released to mark International day against drug abuse and illicit trafficking (26 June), the report updates an EMCDDA literature review released in 2008. The new edition includes the results of the European Commission-funded DRUID project (2006–11), which contributed key evidence to road safety policy by mapping Europe’s drink- and drug-driving problem across 13 countries. Also examined are over 500 studies, published in Europe and internationally up to 2013, with a greater emphasis placed on meta-analyses and systematic reviews, which combine and summarise the latest findings.
The report explores methodology, prevalence and the effects of substances on performance. It concludes: ‘The chronic use of all illicit drugs is associated with some cognitive and/or psychomotor impairment and can lead to a decrease in driving performance, even when the subject is no longer intoxicated’. Among concerns raised in the report is the variety of drugs available today: ‘The range of psychoactive substances available for illicit use is increasing, and recent studies are finding evidence of their use among drivers.’
1 Verstraete AG, Legrand SA and EMCDDA Project Group (Vandam L, Hughes B and Griffiths P) (2014) Drug use, impaired driving and traffic accidents 2nd edition. Lisbon: EMCDDA. Available at www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/insights
WHO–Europe launches new guide on prisons and health
Cited from Drugnet Europe No 87, July–September 2014
On 27 May, the World Health Organization’s Regional Office for Europe (WHO–Europe) launched its latest guide for professionals working in the area of prison healthcare. The manual, entitled Prisons and health, was presented in Strasbourg at an expert meeting, co-organised by the Council of Europe’s Pompidou Group and the WHO’s Health in Prisons Programme, on the theme: ‘Prison health in Europe: missions, roles and responsibilities of international organisations’.2
The manual is based on contributions from a large number of experts and international partners, including the EMCDDA. The guide outlines important proposals to improve the health of those in prison and to reduce the risks posed by imprisonment to health and society. In particular, it aims to facilitate better prison health practices in the fields of: human rights and medical ethics; communicable diseases; non-communicable diseases; oral health; risk factors, vulnerable groups; and prison health management.
Based on the principles of prison health being a key factor of public health, the meeting also adopted the ‘Strasbourg conclusions’. These highlight, among others: the right for prisoners to enjoy the same level of healthcare as others in society and the effectiveness of placing prison health services under the jurisdiction of health (rather than justice) ministries. In the text, international organisations pledge their support for prison health reform by strengthening and coordinating their efforts to ensure implementation of these conclusions.
2 Enggist S, Moller L, Galea G and Udesen C (eds) (2014) Prisons and health Copenhagen: WHO Regional Office for Europe. Available at www.euro.who.int/en/publications/abstracts/prisons-and-health
New study on HCV infection
Cited from Drugnet Europe No 87, July–September 2014
‘Hepatitis: Think again’ was the theme of this year’s World Hepatitis Day commemorated on 28 July. To mark the occasion, the open-access online journal PLoS ONE published a new EMCDDA systematic review of data for scaling up treatment and prevention among injecting drug users infected with hepatitis C in the EU.4 People who inject drugs (PWID) are a key population affected by the hepatitis C virus (HCV). Treatment options are improving and may enhance prevention; however, access for PWID may be poor. The new study, one of the largest conducted on this topic and involving over 80 collaborators, concludes that data on HCV epidemiology, care and disease burden among PWID in Europe, while sparse, suggest many undiagnosed infections and poor treatment uptake. The burden of disease, where assessed, was high and is expected to rise in the next decade.
4 Wiessing L, Ferri M, Grady B, Kantzanou M, Sperle I, Cullen KJ, EMCDDA DRID group, Hatzakis A, Prins M, Vickerman P, Lazarus JV, Hope V and Matheï C (2014) Hepatitis C virus infection epidemiology among people who inject drugs in Europe – A systematic review of data for scaling up treatment and prevention PLoS One 28 July 9(7): e103345. Available at www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0103345.
The role of take-home naloxone in reducing overdose deaths
Cited from Drugnet Europe No 87, July–September 2014
The role of take-home naloxone (THN) in reducing opioid-related fatalities will be the focus of an EMCDDA meeting held in Lisbon on 14 October. Leading experts on the issue will come together at the event to focus on the scaling up of interventions using this medication across Europe.
The WHO will present at the meeting its new Guidelines on the management of suspected opioid overdose while the EMCDDA will review its upcoming paper on the Effectiveness of take-home emergency naloxone to prevent heroin overdose.
For more, see www.emcdda.europa.eu/topics/pods/preventing-overdose-deaths
Drugnet Europe is the quarterly newsletter of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA). Drugs in focus is a series of policy briefings published by the EMCDDA. Both publications are available at www.emcdda.europa.eu.
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