THE stark reality of drug deaths in Belfast has been laid bare amid calls for an overdose prevention facility to be established in the city.
A meeting of Belfast City Council heard how drug overdose deaths, of which homeless people are most at risk, have doubled over the last decade and are set to increase further.
A motion to support the establishment of an overdose prevention facility (OPF) was passed unanimously by councillors.
A group working with the homeless in Belfast told councillors there were 212 drug deaths in the north last year alone, with the age of those most vulnerable at risk falling to include people in their 20s.
Iain Cameron of the charity Extern said there had also been an "extremely concerning" rise in HIV infections as a result of intravenous drug use.
His colleague Sharon Hearty said an OPF, where users can take drugs in a "sanctioned hygienic environment operated by trained staff" would prevent deaths and provide a boost to other services in the city working for the welfare of the most vulnerable.
A pilot facility in Belfast would also allow for early intervention with drug users to help them beat addictions, as well as halting the spread of blood-borne viruses including HIV. they explained, highlighting evidence-based global research.
"It will enable that greater connection, that greater check-in, with the most disenfranchised of the disenfranchised who are on our streets," Ms Hearty said.
"All of the services on our streets aren't able to always be there on that street corner, in that doorway, when someone unfortunately overdoses."
A dedicated facility would also reduce anti-social behaviour and the littering of paraphernalia including used needles across the city centre, she explained, adding that it would also free up police and the ambulance service to do "other essential work".
"Ultimately, in the long run an OPF will decrease the healthcare costs as the need for ambulances, and medical treatment related to the use of intravenous drugs will be reduced over time," Ms Hearty said.
"Fundamentally, this is a health matter...and an OPF, while it's not a silver bullet, is an important intervention we currently are missing."
Green Party councillor Mal O'Hara, who proposed the motion for an OPF said communities and families were being left "devastated" by drug deaths.
"I love people who have lost loved ones, and I have seen that pain and that anguish, and I know I'm not alone in this room," he told the chamber.
Speaking of the "upward trajectory" in HIV transmissions related to drug use in Belfast, he added: "In most of the western world, that's going the other way. We're an outlier."
He said the academic evidence for drug prevention such as OPFs "stacks up" adding that of last year's overdose deaths: "Every single one of them was an avoidable and preventable tragedy."
He added the north's drug death toll last year was almost three times the number of deaths for the entirety of Portugal, which has decriminalised drug possession.
Alliance councillor Mickey Murray urged an amendment allowing organisations working with homeless people to be involved in the setting up of any facility.
DUP councillor George Dorrian said he wanted to "hear more about the benefits" of an OPF.
"This certainly has potential and that's something we would like to explore," he added.
Following the vote, Extern's assistant director of addiction services, Mal Byrne, said the charity would now "welcome the opportunity to engage with council members, policymakers and local communities to deepen these conversations and articulate a way forward, while acknowledging that there are many sensitivities around a facility of this kind".
