Author Archives: James

Local Government and drug prevention: new website

This is encouraging as so much good work goes on at this level of government:

Council of Capital City Lord Mayors
http://www.lgadin.gov.au
WEBSITE LAUNCHED TO HELP COUNCILS RESPOND TO IMPACTS OF DRUGS AND ALCOHOL

The Chair of the Council of Capital City Lord Mayors (CCCLM) and Lord Mayor of Hobart, Alderman Rob Valentine, launched a new website to assist councils in addressing the impacts of drugs and alcohol in their communities. The new site – Local Government Alcohol and Drugs Info Net (LGADIN) – is aimed at building and enhancing the capacity of local councils to reduce the harm of drugs and alcohol.
“Local government plays a significant role in shouldering the burden associated with the use of drugs and alcohol in our communities,” Lord Mayor Valentine said.

“This is the first time in Australia that local government has had a dedicated website to assist councils improve their response in this area.

“LGADIN is home to everything any council in Australia needs to help them manage drug and alcohol issues in their communities. It provides a one stop shop of information on upcoming events, the latest news and a discussion forum for councils to participate in knowledge sharing.

“We envisage LGADIN becoming a primary tool, an essential component for councils in Australia to obtain the latest thinking, examples of clever initiatives operating in local government and important information on funding opportunities and legislative changes.”

Lord Mayor Valentine acknowledged the Federal Government’s funding contribution through its Ministerial Council on Drug Strategy which enabled the construction of the website.

“The LGADIN is a product of Federal Government engagement with local government to help reduce the impact of drugs and alcohol in our communities. By empowering councils, we are able to contribute towards reducing the impact that drugs and alcohol have on families, businesses and communities. We are happy to deliver coalface initiatives towards meeting national objectives.”

Hepatitis C outcome measures: German Study

Via the prolific Dr Andrew Byrne:

High rates of sustained virological response in hepatitis C virus-infected injection drug users receiving directly observed therapy with peginterferon alpha-2a (40KD) (PEGASYS) and once-daily ribavirin. Waizmann M, Ackermann G. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment 2010 38:338-345

Dear Colleagues,

This report is very good news for those considering anti-viral treatment for hepatitis C from an opioid pharmacotherapy setting. Out of 49 patients 48 obtained a sustained viral response according to this group from Leipzig, Germany. Side effects were modest and none required cessation or alteration of treatment schedules. Uniquely they give all treatment under supervision in the clinic on a daily basis with ribavirin given as single daily dose of 800mg (1200mg for genotypes 1/4) rather than the more usual split dose regimen, given for 26 weeks (48 weeks for genotype 1/4). Furthermore, all patients were given antidepressant citalopram (Cipramil) 20mg daily starting 2 weeks before commencement of anti-viral drugs as a prophylactic regardless of whether they had clinical depression or not at the outset.

Study patients’ mean age was 30 years, 50% male; genotypes 1 (41%), 2 (4%), 3 (53%), 4 (2%). Subjects had to have been ‘stable’ for at least 3 of 6 months in opiate treatment. They were taking buprenorphine 0.6mg – 7.4mg or levo-methadone 10 – 50mg (equivalent to 20 – 100mg of the regular racemic product). They had been taking opiates for an average of 6 years and had HCV for an estimated 3.5 years. This is in contrast to other reports where opiate use/HCV were of substantially longer duration.

The authors did a retrospective analysis of 49 such patients over 3 year period, including LFTs, Hb, WBC, platelets and viral loads. It is not quite clear how these were chosen for inclusion – random, time period or consecutive?

The clinic typically treated a population of 125 addicts on a daily basis including weekends. Doctors and counsellors were available on-site every day and a hotline was available to patients.

While the results seem extremely favourable, the authors cite another study with compliance rate of 100% and SVR rate of 94% from 17 HCV genotype 3-infected MMT patients treated with IF plus RBV, the former under observation and using psychosocial supports (Krook et al. Norway 2007). This is also consistent with numerous studies showing improved results from directly observed treatment (DOT) in HIV infection (see Sharkey 2011). Others have reported improved HCV rates with increased psychosocial supports and less illicit drug/alcohol use.

We should all be encouraging our patients with HCV to consider assessment and treatment where appropriate. If these outcomes can be corroborated we should also probably consider the benefits of additional supervision of medication for better adherence as well as possibly once daily antivirals and antidepressants.

Comments by Andrew Byrne ..

Opinion blog: http://methadone-research.blogspot.com/
New York spring stories: http://andrewbyrneinnewyork.blogspot.com/
Dr Strain on the new bupe “film” or ‘wafer’. http://methadone-research.blogspot.com/2011/04/eric-strain-talks-about-buprenorphine.html

Krook AL, Stokka D, Heger B, Nygaard E. Hepatitis C treatment of opioid dependants receiving maintenance treatment: Results of a Norwegian pilot study. 2007 European Addiction Research 13:216-221

Sharkey KM, Kurth ME, Anderson BJ, Corso RP, Millman RP, Stein MD. Directly observed antiretroviral therapy improves adherence and viral load in drug users attending methadone maintenance clinics: A randomized controlled trial. Drug Alc Depend 2011 114;2-3:245-248

Waizmann M, Ackermann G. High rates of sustained virological response in hepatitis C virus-infected injection drug users receiving directly observed therapy with peginterferon alpha-2a (40KD) (PEGASYS) and once-daily ribavirin. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment 2010 38:338-345

Jobs: Prison and Community Counsellor/Educator (Western Australia)

Cyrenian House is one of the leading alcohol and other drug treatment centres in Western Australia.

Prison and Community Counsellor/Educator (Part time)

We are looking for a person with sound clinical skills to provide counselling, education and group facilitation. You will be required to deliver prison based Pathways Programs (training provided) and to work from our office in Perth.

The successful applicant will work in a multidisciplinary team to support individuals who have complex histories including drug and alcohol misuse, criminal behaviour and mental health issues.
Salary is equivalent to SACS award level 4/5.

This is a 56 hours (6 days) per fortnight position.

For job descriptions and selection criteria for this position, please go to
www.cyrenianhouse.com and click on ‘employment’.

To ensure that you submit all of the required information in your application, please refer to the Information Package within the employment section on the Cyrenian House website.
For further information on this position, please contact Mitch Peasley, Operations Manager Cyrenian House, on 9328 9200 or mpeasley@cyrenianhouse.com

Closing Date: 4pm, Monday 2 May 2011.

Cyrenian House is a smoke free organisation.
We strongly encourage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to apply.

Jobs: Research Fellow (Victoria)

Research Fellow/Senior Research Fellow
Health Services Research & Evaluation Program
Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre

A member of Eastern Health

∙ Unique opportunity to make a difference – contribute to system design and service effectiveness
∙ Full-time
∙ Career progression opportunity
∙ Located at Fitzroy

Turning Point strives to promote and maximise the health and wellbeing of individuals and communities living with and affected by alcohol and other drug-related harms. We aspire to be a world leading service delivery and research and development centre. In working toward our goals we will ensure the safest possible environment in relation to alcohol and other drug problems today and into the future.

Trustworthy, rigorous research and evaluation are cornerstones of sound service planning and systems development. The Health Services Research and Evaluation Program aims to inform better health service delivery and system design related to alcohol and other drug concerns.
This important work focuses on how and whether health systems work, with the goal of aligning services and systems with the evidence on effectiveness in treatment and service delivery. Projects target single programs, as well as regional, state, and national systems.

You will be required to undertake high level complex research tasks including but not limited to: project design and coordination, data collection and analysis, report writing, the preparation of funding applications and dissemination of findings to stakeholders and academic audiences. You will be encouraged to develop a particular area of expertise and build your profile and career pathway via competitive fund rounds and peer review publications. You will supervise junior staff and contribute to program planning.

High calibre applicants will possess postgraduate qualifications in a relevant field as well as relevant research experience. Advanced qualitative or qualitative research skills are required as are solid skills in the management and timely completion of complex research projects. Experience in the translation of research to practice or policy and a PhD in public health / social sciences are highly desirable.

If you are interested in a research career in public health, with a focus on service delivery and system design, please refer to the attached position description for further detail.

Classification: Senior Research Fellow (Grade 8, $84,245 pa), Research Fellow (Grade 7, $75,556 per annum).

Applicants must address the key selection criteria or their applications will not be considered. Applications must be submitted via the electronic system at easternhealth.org.au/careers/ Reference Number: 95347

Enquiries: Dr Lynda Berends, Senior Research Fellow, 03 8413 8448

ANCD: new members announced by Government

Press release from the ANCD:

AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL COUNCIL ON DRUGS

The Federal Government today announced the new membership of the Australian National Council on Drugs (ANCD).

Prime Minister Julia Gillard welcomed the addition of several new members to the ANCD who will bring fresh perspectives on ways to reduce harm caused by alcohol and drug misuse.

They will join a number of experienced members at the ANCD – which will continue to be chaired by Dr John Herron.

The ANCD has played a crucial role as the Australian Government’s principal advisory body on licit and illicit drugs since its establishment in 1998.

Members of the ANCD come from a wide variety of backgrounds and have experience in areas covering law enforcement, the health and social welfare sectors and the community sector.

The ANCD brings a broad, whole-of-society perspective to drug and alcohol issues.

It has helped shape several Government strategies and campaigns which have succeeded in reducing the rate of smoking and illicit drug use.

The Prime Minister said ANCD members, past and present, have made a valuable contribution in tackling the issues behind drug and alcohol misuse.

The Council’s membership will next be reviewed in 2014.

MELBOURNE
15 APRIL 2011

PRESS OFFICE (02) 6277 7744

AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL COUNCIL ON DRUGS MEMBERSHIP: 2011-2014

The following people have been appointed to the ANCD (2011-2014):
* Indicates new members
Chair of the Council
Dr John Herron

Executive Members
Associate Professor Robert Ali
Professor Margaret Hamilton
Mr Garth Popple

Members
Ms Donna Ah Chee *
Professor Steve Allsop *
Professor Jon Currie *
Ms Carrie Fowlie *
Magistrate Margaret Gill Harding *
Mr Nick Heath *
Ms Annie Madden *
Commissioner Karl O’Callaghan *
Mr Frank Quinlan (ex officio) *
Professor Dorothy Scott *
Assistant Commissioner Julian Slater *
Ms Sheree Vertigan (ex officio)
Mr Paul White *
Associate Professor Ted Wilkes

ANCD Terms of Reference 2011–2014

Provide independent advice to the Prime Minister and Australian Government Ministers on national drug and alcohol strategies, policies, programs and emerging issues.
Provide independent advice to the Prime Minister and the Australian Government on improving the implementation and effectiveness of efforts to reduce the supply, demand and harm from drugs in Australia and internationally.
Provide independent and strategic advice to the Prime Minister and Australian Government Ministers on drug and alcohol issues specifically affecting Indigenous people.
Provide assistance and advice on drug policy and services to Australian Government departments, inquiries and other bodies such as parliamentary parties, as appropriate.
Consult and liaise with relevant sectors and in particular the non-government sector on drug and alcohol related issues.
Inform and educate relevant sectors and the general public’s knowledge on drug and alcohol related issues.
Build and maintain partnerships across the range of sectors concerned in dealing with and addressing drug related issues.
Work closely with the Inter-governmental Committee on Drugs and other National Drug Strategy partners to develop and implement effective strategies, policies and programs to reduce the uptake and misuse of illicit and licit drugs.
Maintain effective liaison with other stakeholders, public health advisory bodies and relevant peak non-government organisations, including consumer representatives.
Develop a three year Work Plan for the Council.
Report annually to the Prime Minister on the work of the Council.

The Vienna Declaration – sign the petition

Worth a read:

For almost a year we have been working with people around the world strengthening the global movement for drug policy based on science, not ideology.

*Today over 20,000 people have endorsed the Vienna Declaration.*

We have been amazed by the support and enthusiasm of people like you from all around the globe. To capture that energy, we asked some of our most outspoken supporters for their thoughts on the Declaration’s call for evidence-based drug policy reform.

*Click here to hear what they have to say.* [ http://www.youtube.com/user/ScienceInDrugPolicy#p/u/5/bZ3_Oqy3zK0 ]

Some stories are inspiring and others remind us of the very real obstacles facing drug policy reform. Taken together, these six videos [ http://www.youtube.com/user/ScienceInDrugPolicy#p/u/5/bZ3_Oqy3zK0 ] remind us why “everyone” must join together and commit to overcoming these challenges.

*We are halfway to AIDS 2012. Share these videos and help us make an impact.*

The biennial International AIDS Conferences are the largest HIV/AIDS-related gatherings in the world. Next year the AIDS 2012 conference is being held in Washington DC – the birthplace of the ‘War on Drugs’. Join us in sharing these videos [ http://www.youtube.com/user/ScienceInDrugPolicy#p/u/5/bZ3_Oqy3zK0 ] with friends and networks as we begin building towards to this major event.

Using email, Facebook, and Twitter to promote our shared commitment to evidence-based drug policies, we will continue to make our voices heard and help drug policy reform become a reality.

Thank you for your endorsement and your continued support. We look forward to working with you over the next year as we build towards AIDS 2012.

All the best,

The Vienna Declaration Team
www.viennadeclaration.com

[ http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Vienna-Declaration/108611532515232?ref=ts ] [ http://www.twitter.com/vdecl ]

Psychotherapy of Addiction – 11th Annual Conference (UK)

Psychotherapy of Addiction – 11th Annual Conference
Date: Monday 27 – Tuesday 28 June 2011

(Info last updated 14 April 2011)
South West London & St. George’s Mental Health NHS Trust

Psychotherapy of Addiction – 11th Annual Conference
Date: Monday 27 – Tuesday 28 June 2011, 9.45am – 5.00pm
Venue: Friends House (Quakers), 173 Euston Road, London NW1 2BJ
Cost: Any one day = £70; two days= £130;
Price includes tea/coffee; lunch available to buy locally.
(Employees of SWL&St.G Trust ONLY: 50% discount (i.e. any one day = £35 or both days= £65).

DAY ONE Theme: “Addiction – with & without drugs”
“Psychodynamic Approaches to People with Gambling Problems” – Derek Irwin, Counsellor/Supervisor, Gamcare.
“What is Co-dependency?” – Dr Tracy Burrows, Locum Consultant Psychiatrist.
“The Abuse of an Object & Relating Through Incorporation” – Jean Knox, Jungian Analyst.
“From Toxic Projections to Dependency-group Analysis & Eating D isorders” – Sally Willis, Psychotherapist, Priory.
Large Group reflections.
DAY TWO Theme: “Time, memory, healing”
“Black Holes; Collapses of Time in the Mind of the Addict” – Alistair Sweet, Psychotherapist/NIDAS, Belfast.
“Responses – Pathologies of Time, Memory & Desire” – Jill Fowler, Analytical Psychotherapist; Ryan Kemp, Consultant Psychologist.
“From Enmeshment to Recovery” – An innovative group exercise, facilitated by Mike, Expert by Experience & Martin Weegmann, Consultant Psychologist.
2 Personal accounts of recovery.
Large group reflections.
Martin Weegmann (Organiser)
Tel: 07834 430 880
E-mail: martin.weegmann@swlstg-tr.nhs.uk

NHMRC Funding cuts: the perspective of those affected

It’s hard not to agree with the perspective of the Public Health Association of Australia‘s on the Government’s rumoured spending cutbacks for research:

150 professors to fight possible NHMRC funding cuts

The Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA) and the Council of Academic Public Health Institutes of Australia (CAPHIA) have written to the Prime Minister and colleagues to express concern about possible funding cuts to National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) research. The letter from the two leading public health organisations has also been signed by over 150 Professors of Public Health from around the country, who say the proposed cuts come at a time of unprecedented reform including in the primary health care and preventive sector.

“A previous Federal budget saw the abolition of the Public Health Education and Research Program (PHERP) with a major impact on a range of public health programs. Every University has been impacted by the loss of PHERP funding which in turn affects capacity building in the public health workforce. Now, proposed cuts to the NHMRC research funds will have further impact on public health research,” explained Professor Helen Keleher, PHAA President.

“Public health research has struggled to gain funding within NHMRC to a level anywhere near on par with its policy relevance and population impact. It remains especially vulnerable to disproportionate reductions if budget cuts are instituted. Public health research tends to produce long term rather than short term outcomes and is therefore more vulnerable to cutbacks than other forms of research. However, it is also true that many of the great advances in improved health outcomes have come through public health. If we are to improve population health and address health inequities, we must invest in public health research to inform programs and policy,” said Professor Keleher.

“Public health successes in environmental health, communicable disease control, injury prevention and health advancement account for much of the improvement in health and life expectancy over the last 50 years. While more research is still being conducted on these issues, public health is also involved in improving nutrition and physical fitness to deal with the obesity epidemic, as well as alcohol, illicit drugs and gambling policy to reduce harm associated with these activities. These are complex issues in which evidence gaps exist and further research is required to effectively support programs,” said Professor Bennett.

“Public health research informs the development of programs and policies and evaluates their effectiveness. It investigates the social and environmental determinants of health to ensure targeting of programs to get the best outcomes for the least cost. We know that prevention is better than cure, and prevention reduces the burden of illness and disability in our society. Undertaking research into prevention of ill health and promoting good health is a cost effective intervention which saves lives.

“We are urging the Government to reconsider any possible cuts to the NHMRC budget that will surely impact heavily on public health research,” said Professor Bennett.

A full copy of the letter sent by PHAA and CAPHIA to the Prime Minister, Treasurer, Minister for Education and Minister for Health is available on the PHAA website at: www.phaa.net.au .

Jobs: Dual Diagnosion Clinician, Liaison Consultant

Posted on behalf of DASWest.

Dual Diagnosion Clinician, Liaison Consultant

(Ref. 5507)

Full Time

DASWest is seeking an experienced, highly motivated person for the position of Dual Diagnosis Clinician/Liaison Consultant.

DASWest is a major provider of AOD services in the Melbourne’s West.

The incumbent will play a pivotal role in facilitation collaborative practice between Service Providers in this area.

This is a 12 month full time position.

Enquiries: Sharon Desmond, Group Manager DASWest,
Ph: 0435 658 493

Closing Date: 08/04/2011

For more details and to apply online visit www.westernhealth.org.au

Applicants may be required to undergo a Police Records / Working with Children Check

Jobs: Director Education, Communication and Workforce Development

· Strategic and Management Focus
· Exciting Opportunity to lead the Industry
· Attractive and Flexible Contract
A leading player in the Alcohol and Other Drug sector, Moreland Hall is looking for a creative, vibrant person to lead and manage the Education, Communication and Workforce Development Team.

Reporting directly to the CEO and being a member of the Senior Management Team, you will use your skills, contacts and knowledge of the sector to lead programs within the directorate and secure funding to develop innovative projects to be undertaken by the agency.

You are a well connected and target driven individual with a track record of success. You think strategically and are a team player, who provides support and drive to a highly competent and creative team. Your communication and presentation skills are highly developed and you enjoy the flexibility and autonomy offered by a self directed position.

Rewards on offer for this challenging, responsible, and vitally important position include an attractive remuneration package, including salary packaging available to a not for profit agency.

To be successful you will have the relevant tertiary qualifications, behaviour and attitudes and skills and experience to meet the key selection criteria for the position.

For more information please visit our website via the following link.

http://www.morelandhall.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=268:director-education-communication-and-workforce-development&catid=50:current-employment-opportunities&Itemid=68

Applications close Friday 15 April 2011.