This week, in the U.S., is ‘National Addiction Treatment Week’. Here a series of events are taking place designed to raise awareness about different forms of addiction and to highlight the work undertaken by professionals and volunteers within the field.
National Addiction Treatment Week runs October 17-23, 2022. A key focus is to raise awareness about the disease of addiction. Other aims include seeking to reduce the stigma surrounding addiction and to help promote medical professionals to treat the disease.
Addiction is defined as a treatable, chronic medical disease involving complex interactions among brain circuits, genetics, the environment, and life experiences. Often, people with addiction use substances or engage in behaviours that become compulsive and often continue despite harmful consequences.
The 2022 event highlights a key treatment gap between the number of patients who need addiction treatment and the qualified medical professionals available to treat patients. The conclusion drawn is that expanding the addiction medicine workforce is critical so those who need treatment can receive it.
It is estimated that over 41 million people aged 12 and over in the U.S. needed treatment within the past year for substance use. However, only 4 million of of those who needed treatment received it. This is a rate that is running that less than 2 percent of the population who require some form of treatment.
To support the approximate 41 million people who need help, there is a workforce gap of 41,000 addiction medicine specialist physicians. It is calculated that around 44,500 addiction medicine specialist physicians are needed to meet patients’ needs, yet only an estimated 3,000 are available.
Commenting on this undesirable situation, Bill Haning, president of the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM), says in a message provided to Digital Journal: “While the nation pursues a resolution to the ‘opioid epidemic,’ we must remove the barriers to all addiction treatment. This week we are focusing on the devastating impact of addiction and how the foci on different substances can change over time. We are also examining the stigma associated with addiction, which makes it difficult for medical professionals to effectively save lives.”
To help to achieve this, campaigns are running across multiple social media channels during the week. This includes case studies where medical providers share how treating addiction and becoming certified in addiction medicine has positively impacted their medical careers and patients.
Resources will also be made available about addiction and its treatment, including career paths in addiction medicine and ways to become certified.
