Awareness Campaign to Combat Prescription Medicine Abuse

The Health and Social Care Board and the Public Health Agency in Northern Ireland have launched a campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of misusing prescription medication.  It is estimated that the misuse of prescription medication such as Tramadol, Diazepam and anti-depressants was responsible for 27 times more deaths than illicit drugs such as cocaine in 2015.  Joe Brogan, Head of Pharmacy, Health and Social Care Board said: ‘We have one of the highest rates of deaths in Northern Ireland as a result of prescription medicine abuse.  We want people to understand that while prescription medicine can be beneficial when prescribed correctly, it can cause serious harm and, sadly, as we have seen recently, death when misused, abused or mixed with other drugs or alcohol’.  This will, predominantly, be a social media campaign, targeting not just young people but also parents to raise greater awareness about the dangers of misusing medicine.  A video explaining the issues is available at https://business.facebook.com/healthandsocialcareboard/videos/1888910497989989