A senior North East public health figure has warned alcohol problems are "normalised" and that the "stigma" around addiction remains a huge barrier to tackling high rates of addiction.
Gateshead's director of public health Alice Wiseman was speaking to the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee a week after the announcement that local authorities in the North East should see more than £25m in Government funding to improve drug and alcohol treatment and recovery services.
This funding, from the Department of Health and Social Care, is split across money awarded for the 2023 to 2024 period, along with "indicative" money for the 2024 to 2025 period. The money has been welcomed by charities and public health figures - though the Association of Directors of Public Health has warned that it is "unsustainable" given cuts to the ringfenced local government public health grant.
