Dr Patrick Troy,
Ardmore,
Strawberry Beds,
Dublin 20
The publication of the report by Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, on substance abuse, especially relating to alcohol and its devastating effects, is greatly welcomed.
Substance abuse, drugs, and more recently alcohol, have devastated whole Irish communities which have been left without the resources to deal with the myriad of effects and causative factors.
This applies no more so than to Dublin west – the Ballyfermot area.
This unfortunate area has the highest concentration of drug abuse in the country, the greatest number of drug related deaths, the greatest number of HIV/drug related deaths and the community has to be commended for its resilience and struggle. It currently has a horrific problem with alcohol related deaths.
The drug treatment clinic in the Ballyfermot area, the Aisling Clinic, opened in 1992, and has been to the forefront in dealing with this blight on the people.
The addiction services now have plans to close the largest clinic in the country and to disperse the patients to nearby areas to continue their treatment. In essence they will be treated outside their community.
The addiction problem has not gone away, the work with drugs and alcohol will be ongoing for years to come and I call on the Chief Medical Officer for the Department of Health to ensure that all patients are treated in the communities in which they live.
