Juliette Gagliardi
Junior Researcher
Substance abuse treatment and rehabilitation in Italy - Statistics & Facts
Italy is characterized by a low level of awareness regarding the phenomenon of drug addiction and high use of illicit substances, especially among younger people. In 2022, the number of people being treated in public drug addiction centers (Servizi pubblici per le Dipendenze – SerD) grew by almost 14 percent compared to the previous year. Individuals treated for addiction were mostly males with 110 thousand males from a total of approximately 127 thousand patients, and most people receiving treatment were aged between 35 and 54 years. The primary substances of abuse among addicts in treatment were opioids, with almost 64 percent, followed by cocaine and cannabinoids. Most individuals treated for drug addiction received methadone when treated with a substitutive drug.
Facilities and personnel treating addicts
As of 2022, the region of Lombardy had by far the highest number of patients treated for drug addiction, as well as the highest number of outpatient centers offering services for the treatment, prevention, and rehabilitation of people with drug addiction. Lombardy was also the region that had the highest public expenditure devoted to providing these kinds of services, with 190.6 million euros. The personnel working in facilities dedicated to treating people with drug addiction is diverse. Nurses represent the largest working group, with over 30 percent, followed by doctors, psychologists, and social workers.Drug-related comorbidities
Injecting drug users (IDU) are more susceptible to infectious diseases if they don’t use sterile syringes when consuming. In 2021, around 4.2 percent of new HIV diagnoses in Italy were among IDU, an increase compared to the previous year. Between 2020 and 2021, most of the IDU newly diagnosed with AIDS were aged between 50 and 59 years and almost 80 percent were male. Hepatitis B (HBV) and C (HCV) are also quite common among drug users and in 2022 the number of people who tested positive for HBV and HCV in Italy increased compared to the previous year. Among the individuals treated in SerD in 2022, 25 percent were tested and 766 were positive for HBV, while 13,514 tested positive for HCV.
