Indivior advocates on public policy issues that relate to addiction by engaging responsibly with public officials, policymakers and other stakeholders at all levels of government, with healthcare professionals and other stakeholders. These activities focus on;
- Removing barriers to innovative treatments;
- Addressing reimbursement barriers by supporting the enforcement of the US Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act;
- Increasing disease and treatment education;
- Reducing the stigma associated with substance use disorders; and
- Advocating for access to treatment in correctional settings.
Treatment advocacy with government, healthcare professionals and community stakeholders
Indivior advocates on public policy issues that relate to opioid use disorder (“OUD”) by engaging responsibly with public officials, policymakers and other stakeholders at all levels of government and with healthcare professionals and community stakeholders. In the US, Indivior’s public policy priorities are focused on expanding access, reducing barriers and promoting equitable access to medication for opioid use disorder (“MOUD”).
The US National Institute on Drug Abuse (“NIDA”) estimates that around sixty-five percent of the population within the criminal justice system have a substance use disorder (“SUD”). However, only five percent of those who need treatment actually receive it. Until recently MOUD for persons with OUD was generally unavailable in criminal justice facilities.
Addressing the opioid crisis in the United States means addressing issues in criminal justice.
Indivior engaged its advocacy team in New York, to join patient and health care professional organizational allies in support of legislation mandating treatment of opioid use disorders within the New York State and local correctional institutions.
Following nearly a decade of debate, in 2021 members of the New York state legislature passed and the Governor signed legislation mandating state prisons and local jails to provide MOUD to all incarcerated individuals suffering from OUD. Treatment was required to be consistent with the most current professional and medical standards, using individualized treatment plans and the FDA-approved medication the correctional health care professional and patient agree is best.
The legislation, the most extensive of its kind in the country, also required the state to develop and implement programs to transition persons receiving treatment for OUD in the correctional system into the community safely. Evidence shows that in the first weeks and months of release individuals are 10 to 40 times more likely to die of an opioid overdose than the general population.
“This legislation furthers an equitable and comprehensive public health approach to ensuring individuals have access to the care they need, when they need it, to aid in their recovery journey while incarcerated and upon re-entry into the community”, Mark Crossley, Chief Executive Officer.
Provision of resources to support the delivery of OUD patient care
Information for medical practitioners
The vision of the American Academy of Family Physicians’ (AAFP) is to transform healthcare to achieve optimal health for everyone. Their mission is to improve the health of patients, families, and communities by serving their needs with professionalism and creativity.
Family physicians throughout the U.S. reported that there was a “gap” in what they need to know to care for patients with OUD. AAFP proposed a practice manual tailored to the family physician and Indivior was pleased to support this initiative through a grant. “Treating Opioid Use Disorder as a Chronic Relapsing Condition: A Practice Manual for Family Physicians”, was published in February 2021.
Fourteen weeks after the manual was issued on the AAFP Website, the Academy surveyed family physicians who had accessed it. When asked if they had used the information in the manual to screen for OUD, fifty percent responded “Yes”. Of those who responded “Yes”, fifty percent responded that they had used the manual “Often” for treating patients with OUD.
Information for patients, care givers and families
Indivior’s support for the AAFP project was preceded by the financial support the company provided to the U.S. Addiction Policy Forum in 2020 to produce a guide about addiction treatment for patients, caregivers, and families.
Navigating Addiction and Treatment: A Guide for Families is a resource for family members who are navigating the complex world of OUD and help patients achieve recovery was created by the Addiction Policy Forum staff, with support from Indivior, in conjunction with an Expert Review Panel composed of prominent researchers and physicians in the addiction field.
The publication is free-of-charge to families throughout the U.S.
Investment community
Indivior recognizes the increasing interest in ESG matters which is emanating from the investment community and other key stakeholders. This has included individual investors, specialist ESG research agencies and investor research exercises that focus on specific areas such as climate change.
Indivior’s Investor Relations and ESG teams continued to respond to a variety of ESG information requests during 2021 and has continued to participate in specific initiatives, such as CDP, which addresses climate-change matters.
Indivior is also developing its reporting and disclosure in line with the increasing requirements of the regulators. This report includes a new section which discloses information in line with the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (“TCFD”).
Indivior has not, to date, produced a separate ESG or non-financial report aligned to an appropriate framework such as the Global Reporting Initiative.
The management team may consider introducing this in the future should it be deemed appropriate. The current intention is to utilize the corporate website and the Annual Report and Accounts for the expansion of Indivior’s ESG information.
