Alcohol abuse in Victoria, South Australia Essay

Alcohol abuse in Victoria, South Australia - Essay Example According to the Victorian Drug Statistics Handbook of 2007, the majority of the people related to alcohol abuse are the young adults of ages 18-24, with 64% drinking yearly. Out of these, the majority of the drinkers are adult males. Even in the younger demographics, the ratio of people using alcohol to get drunk is a high one in five. Role of Health Professionals: The issue of the abuse of alcohol and other drugs has wide spread ramifications in the society, effecting many sectors and involving many structures and organizations. One of the most important role in this regard is played by the health professionals. The health professionals have a two-pronged involvement on this issue: the treatment of the effected individuals through the process of rehabilitation and counseling, and the spread of awareness campaigns aimed at prevention of this abuse so that there is an over all decline in the abuse of alcohol by the youth. Let us examine each role of the health professionals one by one. The most potent job that the these professionals are expected to perform is that of the treatment of the patients who are suffering from the effects of alcohol abuse.... ire treatment through the use of drugs by the doctors, although it is considered to be one according to the modern medical literature (Department of Health, 2011). The only possible treatment is that of rehabilitation and psychological therapy (Department of Health, 2011). The current statistics put the number of inpatient visits dedicated to alcohol abuse patients at more than twenty four thousand seven hundred (Rood, 2009). Considering the nature of the disease, in that it is purely preventable, this is a huge percentage of visits to be dedicated to such a cause. This statistic alone shows the prevalence and the gravity of this issue in the South Australia. It is unfortunate that the success rate of these habilitation centers is not as high as would have been expected or desired (Biondo, 2010). This is not due to negligence or incompetence on the part of the health professionals, rather this is inherent in the nature of the treatment itself. The success of therapy greatly and subst antially depends upon the willingness and will power of the patient himself (Biondo, 2010), and there is little that a doctor can do if this willingness is absent in the patient that he is treating. The prevalence of this social issue in Victoria means that the youth is greatly at risk of social and moral deconstruction (Biondo, 2010), and if the rehabilitation programs fail to handle the situation, the society at large would be at risk. Therefore, the health professionals in this area shoulder a particularly great responsibility. The other limb of the role of health professionals in this regard is their active participation in anti-drinking campaigns and awareness programs of targeted at the youth. It is generally viewed that such campaigns are particularly weak in Victoria (Biondo, 2010),