Ms Valerie Borg, in her letter entitled Drug problem is bigger than thought (TMID, 14 May), attempts to criticise the report on the Malta Drug Situation, compiled by the National Focal Point, National Commission on the Abuse of Drugs, Alcohol and Other Dependencies, by politicising the issue and making a number of sweeping statements, founded on nothing more than her biased views.

She also quotes a news article based on the report and incorrectly attributes the content to Minister Dolores Cristina.

The report is a technical one, based on methods approved by the Lisbon Consensus, and consequently by all 25 EU countries and by some 200 countries affiliated to the United Nations. As a result, reliable comparisons can be made between countries. The methodology is complex and this letter is not the appropriate medium to explain it.

However, with regard to the heroin problem in Malta, the report clearly says that one can use a statistical model and provide estimates of “the hidden population” ie “those not in treatment”.

The estimated range of heroin “problem drug users” is between 1,450 and 2,750. What the Malta Report describes as “problem drug use” is the “daily injecting use of heroin”.

It is important to stress that this estimate does not imply that because the number of problem drug users is high, then drug use among the general population is also high. That would be jumping to conclusions.

Comparisons of the results of the Malta surveys with other countries indicate that with regard to percentages of drug use in the general population, Malta fares at the lower end. Drug use in the general population is measured by administering surveys to representative samples of the general population. The results of the Malta surveys are presented in the Report (ESPAD 1995, 1999, 2003; Health Behaviour in School Children Survey 2001/2002; Population Survey 2001 and The First National Health Interview Survey 2003). The data obtained from these surveys, which are consistent with each other and independent of each other, show that although of great concern, drug use in the general population in Malta is not as widespread as Ms Borg believes.

The prime objective of the report is not to hypothesise, assume or invent figures, but to present a picture on “evidence-based practice”, which means collecting and putting together all the data from all relevant sources – survey data, arrest data, data from all services related to treatment (Caritas, Sedqa, Oasi, Satu), community care, rehabilitation and detox, health data, prison data and probation data – which in turn provides the best means to produce a picture of the situation as it stood in 2003.

Government spends Lm1.5 million on treatment and prevention services, including those supplied by Sedqa, Caritas and Oasi, and on activities reducing supply, for example, work by the police. This figure does not include other indirect costs, such as medical interventions related to drug use, economic costs that relate to the loss of production which may impact on GDP, as well as indirect costs related to drug-users as a result of unemployment, child benefits, housing benefits and so on.

I would also like to point out that people who require treatment in Malta receive it immediately and free of charge. They are not put on a waiting list, as is sometimes the case in other countries, neither are they charged for their treatment. Moreover, in Malta, the period of time from when people start abusing drugs to when they seek treatment is approximately half that of other EU countries – some four years as opposed to around eight years. This is a very positive trend, which though not indicating that any war on drugs is being won, clearly shows that certain policies are effective.

Drug abuse is not just a problem for Malta, but a global one affecting countries all over the world. There is no country in the world that has stated “we have won the war on drugs”, but a number of them highlight significant victories in the battles that have ensued. For example, detox data on HIV and AIDS in Malta reveal that from active clients who were ever tested (86 per cent), there have been no known positive reported cases.

This is a consequence of the policies in place to date, like syringe distribution and continual monitoring using such indicators that have been implemented in this first National Report. It is worth noting that the National Report on the Malta Drug Situation has been commended by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction.

Laura Mifsud Bonnici

Communications Coordinator

Family and Social Solidarity Ministry