ADCA Media Release (13 April 2012).- Dedicated Daily Themes for Drug Action Week 2012

Based on positive reactions to dedicated daily themes for last year’s Drug Action Week (DAW), the 2012 theme days will again provide strong support for the main DAW theme of “Looking After YOUR Mind!”.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Alcohol and other Drugs Council of Australia (ADCA), Mr David Templeman, said the daily themes were important sub-elements of the overarching theme and provided event organisers with the opportunity to expand their awareness activities.

The week will kick off on Monday, 18 June, with the theme of Don't Mix Alcohol and other Drugs as the use of alcohol and other drugs can lead to a variety of complex and unfortunate situations. Mr Templeman said that this very often necessitated support for families, the homeless, and people involved in domestic violence situations. 

“Rural health continues to be a major concern and on Tuesday, 19 June, the theme will be Country Communities ‘At Risk’ from Alcohol and other Drugs to highlight the need for substantial improvement of resources as regional and remote communities face unique pressures when dealing with issues relating to the misuse of alcohol and other drugs,” Mr Templeman said.

On Wednesday, 20 June, the focus will move to Improving Healthcare Arrangements for Indigenous Communities with calls for the upgrading of health services across the country which currently are impacted heavily by attracting and retaining an AOD workforce.

As excessive consumption of alcohol continues to be an increasing health issue for all Australians, the theme for Thursday, 21 June, will be Change the Drinking Culture of Young Australians. Mr Templeman said that while recent data concentrated on long-term harm to a person’s health and the relationship to chronic disease, it was important to note that alcohol consumption impacts people in the short-term, and remained the main contributor to drug-related deaths, injuries, and hospitalisations.

The theme days will conclude on Friday, 22 June, with a call to Invest in AOD Prevention to Reduce Treatment Needs. Mr Templeman said that initiatives such as DAW underlined the need for real investment in prevention and early intervention as 70 per cent of health funding was spent on the provision of acute care and action needed to be taken to keep people healthy and out of the hospital system.

“ADCA is once again calling on organisations from across the AOD, health, education, community, education, police, and media sectors to get involved by registering an event on the DAW 2012 website www.drugactionweek.org.au,” Mr Templeman said.

“With the launch of DAW 2012 scheduled at Parliament House in Canberra on 13 June, prospective event organisers need to act NOW to ensure they are part of this year’s initiative to achieve the best ever public awareness campaign to enhance the health and wellbeing of all Australians.”

Media Enquiries: Brian Flanagan, Manager Strategic Communications, Phone: 02 6215 9802 (w), 0400 860 058 (m); Email brian.flanagan@adca.org.au