Ethical Marketing Campaign for Addiction Treatment Activity Plan - 2025

Going forward into 2025, EMCAT will continue to assist the ASA in their valuable work of investigating improper advertising practices in the addiction treatment sector. We will also collaborate with the ICO to address transparency and data protection concerns, issuing guidance on GDPR compliance across the sector. By furthering our engagement with key regulators and stakeholders, we will ensure that ethical marketing becomes the standard across the industry.

A key focus will be working directly with brokers and treatment providers who use brokering services to encourage the adoption of ethical marketing practices. Through public awareness campaigns and targeted advocacy, we will shed light on unethical behaviours, empower individuals to voice their concerns, and provide clear pathways for recourse when misleading practices are encountered. Additionally, we aim to bring the majority of treatment providers together under a unified code of conduct that rejects brokering and aligns with the ethical standards observed in other areas of healthcare.

We will also engage with commercial platforms, such as Google, to push for action against brokering sites or marketing sites disguised as helplines. We aim to establish political support across the major parties, in the UK and in the devolved nations.

Our efforts will include becoming more active on social media, and gathering impactful stories from individuals and families affected by unethical practices, ensuring their voices contribute to meaningful change in the sector.