Published: Thursday, 10th July, 2008 12:00pm

Heroin figures just the tip of the iceberg

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The number of Midland heroin addicts receiving treatment rocketed by over 60% in a five year period according to the latest figures, but an Athlone doctor has said this week that this is just the tip of the iceberg and said these figures were somewhat outdated.

Dr Graham Kearon revealed yesterday that there are over 70 people awaiting treatment for heroin addiction in Athlone alone and a shortage of doctors to operate the methadone programme has meant no new patients have been admitted in the town since October of last year.

'What"s happened at the clinic is that there are no level two doctors and this means nobody can be taken off the waiting list for the last eight months. Anyone new referred for treatment is just being put on the list. It"s not moving at all,' Dr Graham Kearon told the Westmeath Independent this week.

'The numbers known and recognised and referred are only the tip of the iceberg in terms of using. The numbers are much higher but there are certainly over 70 people on the treatment waiting list in Athlone at present,' he outlined.

This is in stark contrast to the comparative statistics released by the Drug Treatment Board, which coordinates methadone treatment in the state, this week for every health board area between 2001-2006. It shows in the former Midland Health Board area covering Laois, Offaly, Longford and Westmeath the numbers in treatment almost trebled in the five year period, going from 53 in 2001 to 140 in 2006, equating to a massive 62% rise over the period.

However, Dr Kearon remarked that these figures seem to be quite out of date for the region at present, and certainly in terms of using it is generally accepted that the numbers of people taking heroin is on the rise.

When asked the reasons for the jump in heroin use, the Athlone doctor commented that there are many reasons for the increases, in that substance abuse seems to be part of Irish society, while he also referred to increases in binge drinking as a bigger problem. Primarily, he said heroin addiction affects the lower social classes and poorer people.

'The HSE is unable to get any doctors to take up the positions. I don"t know why. At the end of the day the consequence is that the Athlone treatment programme is under-resourced and is not functioning properly,' Dr Kearon added.

In the former Western Health Board area the problem does not seem as acute in numbers despite an almost four fold increase in five years. The statistics indicate 18 people from counties Roscommon Galway and Mayo received treatment for heroin addiction in 2001 but five years later that figure rose to 67.

Nationally, the figures show a near doubling in a decade in the number of addicts receiving methadone treatment from 5,498 in 1998 to just under 10,000 this year. The greatest demand for services has been in the mid-western area covering north Tipperary, Limerick and Clare, where the numbers in treatment increased four fold from 2001-2006 to 176 in that period.

In the state"s prisons, the number of inmates receiving methadone has increased from 859 in 1998 to 1,363 in 2006. Mountjoy Prison in Dublin is now the biggest methadone clinic in the country.