Response to Drug Death Figures

National Records of Scotland has published drug death figures for last year which show a fall in Dundee deaths from 57 in 2020 to 52 in 2021. 

The full report can be found here 

Chair of the Dundee Partnership Councillor John Alexander said: “Each individual death has an impact on family and friends left behind. There have been and remain too many of these tragedies in Dundee despite a year-on-year fall in numbers. 

“It is encouraging that for the second year in a row we have seen a reduction in drug deaths, with the number dropping from 57 in 2020 to 52 in 2021. 

“City agencies are working hard to further reduce drug deaths and we are now

bolstering and widening the ways in which we tackle these problems and support individuals. 

“We look to learn lessons from every single drug death in the city. 

“The Dundee Alcohol and Drugs Partnership is currently asking people about their views on the way forward and what should be included in the new five-year strategic plan. 

“City responses will sit within a wider community planning context that recognises poverty and deprivation, as well as the range of trauma and adversities that contribute to high levels of drug and alcohol related harm. 

“Leaders of key city agencies have underlined their commitment through the publication of a new statement of intent following the Dundee Drugs Commission’s delivery of its two-year review.” 

Chair of the integration joint board of the Dundee Health and Social Care Partnership Councillor Ken Lynn added: “Dundee partners have already implemented a number of new approaches. The support to people through the Non-Fatal Overdose Rapid Response Team, which has been strengthened by additional assertive outreach staff, has received national recognition through a COSLA Excellence Award. 

“Naloxone is also widely available throughout the city through the take home project. 

“We are also seeing the development of an integrated substance use and mental health response to be delivered in communities. 

“Our ambition is to make Dundee a City of Recovery, where we can start to move on from decades of suffering and look forward to a new future. 

“There is already a commitment to co-produce a City Year of Hope, Kindness and Compassion. This will be a whole city response to vulnerable citizens impacted by trauma and adversities. 

“We have to remember that this is a long-term strategy to try and solve problems which have been with us for generations. No one agency can tackle these decades-old problems on their own, and there is no one simple solution that can be applied in a short timescale. 

“I am aware that there are frustrations about the situation, but our resolve needs to remain firm.”  

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