The County You Live, Work And Play
NHS Spending Millions On Young Addicts
Scottish health boards have forked out millions of pounds in the past five years to prevent and treat smoking, drug- taking and alcohol abuse in young people
The County You Live, Work And Play
NHS Spending Millions On Young Addicts
Scottish health boards have forked out millions of pounds in the past five years to prevent and treat smoking, drug- taking and alcohol abuse in young people, and the costs are rising.
More than 1,400 children under 16 have received hospital treatment since 2009 for tobacco or drug abuse.
One health board, NHS Lanarkshire, is even sending health professionals into nurseries in an attempt to teach children as young as three about the dangers of a nicotine addiction.
A snapshot of figures from Scottish health boards reveals that NHS Forth Valley has treated 331 children as young as 12 in hospital who needed treatment due to smoking in the past five years.
117 children aged under 16 have been treated for a smoking addiction in NHS Borders since 2009, and costs to prevent and treat youth addiction have risen from £40,000 in 2011 to £100,000 in 2013/14.
In NHS Lothian more than 69 children – as young as 11 – have received hospital treatment for smoking or drug addiction since 2009.
The health board forked out more than £82,000 last year for smoking and adolescent substance misuse in young people – up from £31,000 in 2011/12.
In NHS Borders 117 under- 16s have been seen for smoking treatment since 2009.
The board spent more than £340,000 on drug and alcohol services for young people over the same period.
Health experts warned that becoming addicted to drugs or alcohol at a young age could lead to life-long health problems.
Sheila Duffy, chief executive of ASH Scotland, said: “Around two-thirds of smokers say they started under the age of 18 and 40 per cent under 16. Smoking amongst children is a real concern because their bodies are growing and developing and damage is magnified.
“Tobacco can for some be quickly addictive – as little as eight weeks – and then hard to quit.
“Part of the problem is we don’t have good evidence for what helps young people to quit, but listening and engaging with them is vital. For some, nicotine replacement therapy may be prescribed to help with addiction.
“Quitting at any age is beneficial and will bring health improvements. For a majority of smokers who quit before age 30 most of the damage can be reversed.”
Andrew Horne, director of Addaction, which supports people affected by drugs and alcohol, said that though numbers of people with drug problems have lowered, Scotland had seen a “worrying” rise in young people addicted to alcohol.
He added: “What we don’t have unfortunately is a countrywide approach to prevention. There are hotspots of good practice but then we have areas where not much is going on. For at-risk young people, a short-term intensive intervention would be a good idea.”
NHS Lanarkshire said its smoking prevention programme cut across a “variety of settings including nurseries, schools, colleges and youth learnin