American doctors and experts in San Patrignano to study the Italian model
107,000 overdose victims in the United States in 2021 alone. This is the dramatic figure that kicked off today the conference “Pathways to treatment in drug addictions in the USA and Italy” organized by San Patrignano within the community in collaboration with the New York Presbiterian – Weill Cornell Medical Center and with the support of the Alexander Bodini Foundation and Friends of San Patrignano. “In the US, the problem of substance abuse is the child of three different waves – explained Jonathan Avery, director of Addiction Psychiatry at NYP – The first was due to the prescription of opiate drugs among adolescents, then access to the market increased. illegal heroin and finally we have seen the spread of Fentanyl, which gives an addiction and an even greater possibility of overdose. In New York we count ten overdoses a day and it is to find an indispensable solution ”. Precisely for this reason American doctors and experts have today confronted in community with the Italian counterparts. “Often the social dimension of the problem of drug addiction is kept separate from the health one – the Minister of Health, Roberto Speranza, began on video connection – but from the point of view of the person they are connected problems. It is the right time for a qualitative leap, to enhance the important experiences of our country to strengthen our National Health System and the protection of the right to health ”. Among the important experiences, therefore, that of the recovery communities, as undersecretary for Health Pierpaolori also pointed out: “We must move from the concept of care to that of taking care of ourselves, an idea that San Patrignano began to develop many years ago. We must allow the dependent person to collect all the cognitive, emotional and relational skills; it cannot and must not be just a health aspect. And we must enhance the training of educators behind such a path ”. To echo the regional councilor for health policies Raffaele Donini: “We need a global take charge of the person, integrating the social sphere with the health one”. Gabriele Moratti, member of the San Patrignano Foundation, underlined: “Drug addiction is a prison, a black hole that sucks up everything that is beautiful around it. In the life of drug addicts there is no friendship and affection, ambition, sport, pride in what one does, and often there are no words of comfort. Knowing that there are people who are interested in them has great significance, because not feeling alone for those who are fragile is of great importance ”. Words that have been of great interest to American speakers, accustomed to pharmacological interventions and clinical pathways for the most part of very short duration, as noted by Philip Wilner, vice president and chief operating officer at the New York Presbiterian: “The first model for dealing with addictions was that morale, with the twelve-phase program; then the psychological one and finally the medical one. Today we have learned that the sociological model has great relevance. The team that leads San Patrignano has developed an idea of society, of the search for meaning through everyday work. It is a model that takes time to be effective, but we have to go from therapy to treatment and reconstruction ”. Long-lasting programs that in the United States at the moment are difficult to achieve given the drama of the moment. For this reason, Dr. Lipy Roy stressed the importance of harm reduction and therefore of replacement drugs such as methadone and subuxone. Antonio Boschini, medical director of San Patrignano, made it clear: “There can be no recovery if a person dies. These drugs are indispensable, but it is essential that the problem is addressed in all its aspects. Anyone who says addiction is like diabetes is wrong to me. There are cures for diabetes, but not addiction. Need a synergy between the medical, pharmacological and biological response “. And in part something is also moving in the United States as Kristopher Kast, director of Addiction Psychiatry at Vanderbilt University stressed: “Increasing treatment diversity is the way forward. The transition between the different levels of care and what is lacking in the United States ”. A system that in Italy started some time ago with 202 low-threshold services, 1001 outpatient services and 928 residential, semi-residential, hospital and specialist services, as explained by Sabrina Molinaro, head of the Epidemiology and research section on IFC-CNR health services, who however, underlined the different situation of our country: “Fortunately, in Italy we do not have the same problem in terms of overdosis, stopping at 293 in 2021 – he explained -. But we have seen how consumption compared to the quantities of cocaine seized has been greater in the past, while cannabis is the most used substance among young people, with 22% having a risk ”. To underline the quality of the Italian response to the problem of addictions, Camillo Smacchia, director of the Ser.D. of Verona: “Public health is often placed in antagonism to communities, but I remember that assistance to the drug addict is widespread between Serd and the community, something that does not exist anywhere else. We are important to the communities and they are important to us ”. An addiction response that must look at all the solutions in the field, including the possible transcranial magnetic solutions, explained Antonello Bonci, president and scientific director of GIA and Vita Recovery, in connection from Miami: “TMS was initially applied for patients with cocaine problems. It is a non-invasive technology, useful as an adjunct treatment to help patients. It has 4 effects: release of chemicals, increase in circulation, increase in plasticity at the synaptic level, anti-inflammatory effect “. The Wall Street Journal journalist Betsy McKey, who is well aware of the problem in the United States, talks about the importance of fighting stigma: “It is up to us to best describe the situation of dependent people and we must also tell about possible solutions to the problem. There is no good or bad person, but we have to write about his internal struggles, his flaws, the accidents that led to this, which is very difficult to deal with in an article “. This was echoed by the Italian journalist of Avvenire, Viviana Daloiso: “Drugs are often told about drugs and, on the other hand, they are perceived as a distinctive element surrounding Italian restrained behaviors. No Italian newspaper has dealt with communities and recovery paths in the last 6 months, a subject invisible to the media. Families find themselves in this world where the ‘parties’ are over, when you are taken care of, you become a problem, and therefore there is the stigma ”.
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