Public spending for illegal drug and alcohol treatment in hospitals: an EU cross-country comparison.

ABSTRACT:

Background

In view of the current economic crisis and the resulting austerity measures being implemented by governments across Europe, public expenditure for substance abuse treatment has increasingly become a subject of discussion. An EU cross-country comparison would allow an estimation of the total amount of public resources spent on substance abuse treatment, compare various substance abuse treatment funding options, and evaluate the division of expenditures between alcohol and illegal drugs. The purpose of this study is to estimate the public spending of EU countries for alcohol and illegal drug abuse treatment in hospitals.

Methods

Our study uses a uniform methodology in order to enable valid cross-national comparisons. Our data are drawn from the Eurostat database, wh

SUBMITTER: Lievens D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4083336 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature