Alliance launches to advance psychedelic healthcare in Europe

Psychedelic Health speaks to the founder of the Psychedelic Access and Research European Alliance (PAREA), Tadeusz Hawrot, about how the organisation aims to facilitate discussions around psychedelic healthcare in Europe.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) mental health disorders are one of the top public health challenges in Europe, affecting around 25 per cent of the population every year. However, only a small number of those receive treatment. 

Of those who receive treatment, many are not responsive and others can spend months or years waiting for talking therapies, for example. There have also been no advancements in the treatment of mental health conditions since the advent of SSRIs – with the area crying out for innovation following the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

With increasing research demonstrating the potential efficacy of psychedelic medicines for the treatment of mental health conditions, addiction and neurological disorders, advancing this area of healthcare could be revolutionary. 

Psilocybin and MDMA, for example, have both been granted US FDA granted Breakthrough Therapy designation for clinical trials investigating their use for the treatment of depression and PTSD, respectively, in combination with psychedelic-assisted therapy.

Speaking to Psychedelic Health, founder of PAREA, Tadeusz Hawrot, highlights that there is currently a long way to go in Europe to improve mental healthcare and achieve the health-related UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

PAREA is aiming to help accommodate research advances in the area of psychedelic medicines and to accelerate the safe and responsible integration of psychedelic-assisted therapy into EU healthcare systems.

The coalition brings together 15 organisations in the fields of mental health, neurology and chronic pain, as well as neuropsychopharmacologists and cancer societies, psychedelic foundations and well as industry partners.

PAREA founder, Tadeusz Hawrot.

Hawrot commented: “There are massive unmet needs in the area of not just mental health conditions but in mental, neurological and substance use disorders.

“The issue is that, while there is a lot of research happening in Europe, and the UK is also leading away in terms of regulatory incentives, we don’t really see much happening at the level of the European institution as a regulator, as an institution.” 

The coalition’s mission advocates the rational and ethically responsible integration of psychedelic-assisted therapies into European mainstream mental health services. 

“When these treatments become available, we think that patients should have them covered within their existing healthcare framework,” said Hawrot. “So, they should become part of the standard armamentarium of different mental healthcare interventions where they live from a doctor, paid by health insurance.

“If this doesn’t happen, we might end up in a situation where people who are most in need will be left without access – people with lower incomes, from economically deprived communities, which already are disproportionately affected by poor mental health. 

“We need to think in advance about these things.”

Hawrot emphasises that one of the objectives of the coalition is to work with policymakers to develop and preserve high-quality standards and rigorous training to ensure that participants are getting safe care. He also highlights that another major barrier to advancing psychedelic healthcare in Europe is the scheduling of psychedelic substances. 

“There is an issue with research,” said Hawrot. “There is very little research at the moment, for example, in assisting people who are having difficult experiences for instance. 

“We need more research for these treatments to be rescheduled – we want to make a case to EU policymakers that they should allocate funding to research in order to make bigger sample sizes and collect more data.”

The coalition has already begun developing relationships with EU policymakers and with members of the European Parliament, having attended a number of meetings and consultations focusing on mental healthcare.

To mark its launch, PAREA will be holding an online event on 23 June, 2022 which will feature talks from PAREA Chair, Professor David Nutt, EU policy maker, Dr Sara Cerdas (Member of the European Parliament), Former Director of the US National Institute of Mental Health, Professor Thomas Insel and others. 

To register for the event please click here.

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