South Asian Heritage Month

The month which lasts until 17th August is dedicated to South Asian history and heritage through education, arts, culture and celebrations. 

At Forward, we’d also like to take this opportunity to raise awareness of the prevalence of addiction within the South & East Asian community and the barriers they face to treatment and support.  

• According to the British Medical Journal, for every 100 white men dying from alcohol-related causes, there are 160 Asian men dying.  

• Evidence suggests that people belonging to the South & East Asian community are even less likely to access services and may be less likely to seek help for alcohol use until they have experienced serious health consequences. 

We are aware that all too often, the needs of South & East Asian community are neglected across recovery services resulting in more significant obstacles to personal recovery.  

Research commissioned by Taking Action on Addiction in 2023 found that over half (53%) of those experiencing addiction or dependency, either directly or through someone close they know, feel unable to talk freely about it. This can often be compounded further in the South & East Asian community by shame, cultural shame and family honour.  

Negative attitudes and stigma prevent people in the community from asking for help. As a result of these attitudes, families and individuals suffer in silence, struggle to find the support they need, and in some cases, never reach out for help. 

Earlier this year, Kim from Bradford talked to the BBC about her own recovery and the need for women in the South & East Asian community to speak out about addiction;  

“I think it was about time somebody spoke out. I do not know if I’m going to be appreciated for it or if it’s going to go down well, but I felt after all these years it needed to be out there that there is addiction that goes on in South Asian communities.”

”I was an Indian girl on drugs – who could I tell?’ (BBC News)

Awareness 

Throughout this month, Forward will be giving staff opportunities to learn about the issues faced by the South and East Asian community to inform our work.   

As part of our ongoing Equality, Inclusion and Diversity efforts, we are doing all that we can to improve awareness and challenge the stigma that exists in all communities.  

In addition, we’re working closely with specific South and East Asian communities on delivering information on drug and alcohol harm reduction.  

We’re delighted to say that we have recently been joined by Chiring to the Ashford Team, who along with Bijay are Nepalese speaking staff members who provide support to the community and working to recruit Recovery Champions to deliver support in their first language. 

For further information contact Bijay: Bijay.Limbu@forwardtrust.org.uk 

We all know stories of friends, friends of friends, neighbours, old school friends, work colleagues, distant (or not so distant) family members who have lived with addiction. Yet, despite this, when addiction touches people in a directly personal way, people find it difficult, almost impossible, to find ways to talk about their experiences. 

Perceptions of addiction need to change. We need to build compassion and understanding around addiction and support people to ask for help without judgement, discrimination or stigma. 

Sources of support: 

No More Pretending is a group set up to help people from the Punjabi community to overcome the stigma through community conversations and positive examples of recovery. 

As experts by experience, the group have witnessed the under-representation, unmet needs, and gaps within mainstream commissioned services for south Asian communities. 

BAC-IN is an award winning specialist drug and alcohol recovery service aimed at individuals, families and carers from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities.