Pubdate: Fri, 18 Oct 2002
Source: Kelowna Capital News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2002, West Partners Publishing Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.kelownacapnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1294
Author: John McDonald

HIGH TIME ADDICTION SERVICES MADE PUBLICLY ACCOUNTABLE

It's no news that health care in B.C. is undergoing a radical change. 
Believe it or not, the move towards a sustainable health care system began 
under the former NDP provincial government with the Liberals continuing and 
accelerating that trend.

Today's health authorities are demanding evidence that they are getting the 
best bang for their buck, be it in acute care, mental health or long-term care.

As they should. The days when there was enough government money to run a 
wasteful system are long since over, if they ever really were here.

That same principle is now being applied to addiction services. Long the 
orphan of the social services, help for drug addicts and alcoholics has 
been bounced around from one government ministry to the next. It was once 
the responsibility of Human Resources, then ended up with the Ministry for 
Children and Families.

When the Liberals were elected the decision was made to put addictions 
services where it really belongs--under the auspices of the Ministry of Health.

Addiction has long been considered by government and many elements of 
society as a moral or character flaw, not a medical problem.

This has lead to a model of treating addiction with abstinence and 
religion-based programs where non-profit societies would receive government 
cash essentially to preach at addicts. Any relapse was usually dealt with 
by removing the offender from the program. Essentially, it punished the 
patient for displaying the symptoms of their disease, kind of like denying 
a cancer patient chemotherapy when more tumors appear on their x-rays.

By tagging addiction as a moral failure, society has also branded those who 
suffer from it as somehow lacking. No wonder addicts want anonymity when 
they finally confront their problem.

But that same anonymity has become a crutch for the non-profit addictions 
industry that has sprung up. When demands are made for proof that what they 
are doing is working, they hold up anonymity like a cross in front of a 
vampire.

Now there are plenty that will argue against the concept of addiction being 
a disease, but there is no question that addiction and its side effects 
regularly put people into the hospital so the argument is moot.

The Interior Health Authority is hiring an addiction manager to review the 
contracts of all service providers. It's looking for results.

Any non-profit society that tries to hide behind anonymity will find its 
funding drying up faster than a wheatfield in southern Alberta. That 
doesn't mean that addicts will be thrust into the limelight to be treated. 
Rather, they will be involved in the whole process including a critique of 
what works and what doesn't. It's about time.
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MAP posted-by: Alex