Gateshead supports campaign to fight stigma around addiction in our region

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31 July 2024

Gateshead Council is working alongside the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (NENC ICB) to share a message about stigma and addiction across the region.

Stigma Kills is a campaign created by the NHS Addictions Provider Alliance, a collaborative of addiction services working to ensure quality, knowledge, and care in addiction services across the UK.

The digital campaign asks the public, as well as health and social care workers, to 'see the person, hear their story.'

Addiction is a highly stigmatised condition, largely due to misconceptions in society, its complex effects on the behaviour of individuals and the fact that it is frequently seen as a 'choice'.

However, it can affect anyone regardless of their background, and the stigma it comes with is even more widespread, impacting families and communities as well as individuals.

The campaign urges people to stop using words that hurt and isolate people, causing stigma, to highlight how this judgement can leave people alone with no access to the help they need.

Councillor Lynne Caffrey, Chair of the Gateshead Health and Wellbeing Board and of the NHS Regional Integrated Care Partnership (North), said: "We're supporting the Stigma Kills campaign to raise awareness of the power of language and how we all can make better choices on how we talk about addiction.

"Every individual who has shared their experience as part of the campaign has a unique story, which shows us that addiction can really affect anyone, from all walks of life. Working closely with health partners and the voluntary sector to reduce stigma, we hope to help our communities to feel empowered to get the support they need."

Sarah Hulse, Strategic Manager for Alcohol, across the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care System, said: "Our attitudes to addiction, and specifically the prejudiced ways we can think about people living with addiction, can have very tragic, real-life consequences.

"By asking health and care workers to look carefully at how they perceive addiction, asking them to understand it as an illness rather than a choice, the Stigma Kills campaign hopes to change both beliefs and behaviours."

For more information on the support available in Gateshead, visit the page below.

Drug and alcohol related support