NOT enough people are giving up drugs, despite going through health service treatment programmes, according to East Lancashire’s top doctor.

Dr Ellis Friedman, director of public health at NHS East Lancashire, is now reviewing services across Burnley, Hyndburn, Pendle, Rossendale and the Ribble Valley, and planning for an overhaul of drug treatment programmes by April.

More than 40 per cent of the county’s registered drug users are in East Lancashire, despite this area making up only 32per cent of Lancashire’s population.

Targeting drug use is one of NHS East Lancashire’s top priorities in its SMYL campaign to save a million years of life by adding two years to the average life expectancy by 2011.

In his annual report into the area’s health, Dr Friedman said: “Although there are a significant number of people already in treatment, there is still a considerable level of unmet need and an inadequate number of people moving on through the treatment system and coming off drugs.

“The challenge for the primary care trust and the drug action team partnership is to make the treatment system more effective, in order to implement the Government’s latest Drug Stra-tegy.

“By increasing the number of people who come off drugs and are then able to access training, education, employment and adequate housing, more positive health outcomes and social re-integration can be achieved.”

In a consultation about service changes, set to begin in January, experts will investigate whether drug and alcohol services, run by the same team at the moment, should be split.

The government’s new guidelines suggest drug teams should focus on improving users’ family lives and employment prospects alongside treatments, as well as putting extra resources into healthcare and rehabilitation for drug-addicted women working as prostitutes.

NHS East Lancashire has already opened a controversial drug services centre in Accrington, as well as extending needle-exchange schemes to combat the spread of HIV and Hepatitis C infections.