• The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence fights the stigma and the disease of alcoholism and other drug addictions.

NCADD News Update

For More Information, Contact: Ames Sweet, Director of Communications 212/269-7797, ext. 16

December 20, 2005

NCADD Medical/Scientific Committee Supports IOM Report on Mental Health and Addictive Disorders Agrees that Alcoholism and Addiction Need to Enter Treatment Mainstream NEW YORK, NY - Following a full review of the Institute of Medicine's (IOM) newly released, Improving the Quality of Health Care for Mental and Substance-Use Conditions, the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD) expressed strong support for the report's unbiased conclusions and endorsed the scientific approach it outlined for improving the quality of treatment for alcoholism and other drug dependence. The report was reviewed by NCADD's Medical/Scientific Committee, chaired by Dr. Robert Niven, former director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. The committee specifically hailed both the report's finding of addiction as a disease and recommendation that addiction treatment must be effectively integrated into the health care system at all levels. "The IOM report clearly states that alcohol and other drug dependence are treatable chronic brain diseases and that all medical and health care workers need to be thoroughly educated to recognize and either treat or effectively refer such patients to appropriate treatment programs," noted Dr. Max Schneider, committee member and past President of the American Society of Addiction Medicine. "Recognition of these diseases as the brain disorders they are and fulfilling the appropriate education and training will help to rid the unjustifiable stigma that has plagued these diseases for generations." According to Niven, the report will serve as the cornerstone of an innovative national public education campaign to be launched in 2006. NCADD is developing the campaign with a coalition of leading experts and organizations in the addiction field to educate Americans on the serious human, health, social and financial impact of alcoholism and addiction. The goal of the campaign will be to measurably reduce the considerable costs of addiction to society and to change the way individuals, families, and institutions think and act when addressing alcoholism and drug dependence. "Addiction impacts all health care systems and needs to be positioned in the mainstream of the total health care delivery arena," noted Niven. "Furthermore, this report provides valid, reliable information we believe will help to educate the medical community about addiction and provide the framework of an effective health care delivery system," said Dr. Niven, on behalf of NCADD. "We commend the IOM in calling for reforms in alcoholism and other drug dependence treatment," concluded Dr. David Lewis, Chairman of the NCADD Board of Directors and Founder of the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. "The fact that we still need to be concerned about clinical standards of practice almost forty years after the American Medical Association's recognition of alcoholism as a disease points to the continuing stigma associated with addictive illness. Alcoholism and other addictive illnesses need to receive the same level of attention, funding and professionalism as any other medical condition. The devastation of this disease demands both increased public awareness and improved quality of care - vital elements that NCADD has been advocating for over 60 years." ### As the oldest advocacy organization in the United States addressing alcoholism and drug dependence, NCADD works at the national level on policy issues related to barriers in education, prevention and treatment for alcoholics and other drug dependent persons and their families. With a nationwide network of Affiliates, NCADD provides education, information, help and hope to the public. For more information, visit: www.ncadd.org.

National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc.

244 East 58th Street, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10022 phone: 212/269-7797   fax: 212/269-7510 email: national@ncadd.org   http://www.ncadd.org HOPE LINE: 800/NCA-CALL (24-hour Affiliate referral)