Naloxone

Take Home Naloxone in the UK

Naloxone (provided under the brand names Prenoxad and Nyxoid in the UK) is a medication used to reverse opioid overdose. Since 2015, this medication has been more widely available in the UK as a ‘take home’ emergency medication.

Find out more

NALOXONE.ORG.UK

This website aims to be a hub for information, guidance, news and research on Take Home Naloxone (THN). The main focus is on THN in the UK, although we have included select pieces of information on the supply of naloxone internationally.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to put someone in the recovery position

PHE Guidance

Updated 18 February 2019
Public Health England have released updated guidance on take home naloxone in the UK, entiled ‘Widening the Availability of Naloxone’. This can be found on the PHE website.
  • Drug services can supply naloxone without a prescription
  • Products that drug services can supply
  • Responsibility for deciding who can supply naloxone
  • People who can be supplied naloxone by a drug service
  • Using naloxone to save a person’s life without their permission
  • Clinical governance in drug treatment services
  • Guidance for hostels, homeless shelters and housing associations
  • Side effects associated with naloxone
View Guidance

Cost-effectiveness analysis of alternative naloxone distribution strategies: First responder and lay distribution in the United States

Written on . Posted in Research

The U.S. is facing an unprecedented number of opioid-related overdose deaths, and an array of other countries have experienced increases in opioid-related fatalities. In the U.S., naloxone is increasingly distributed to first responders to improve early administration to overdose victims, but its cost-effectiveness has not been studied. Lay distribution, in contrast, has been found to be cost-effective, but rising naloxone prices and increased mortality due to synthetic opioids may reduce cost-effectiveness. We evaluate the cost-effectiveness of increased naloxone distribution to (a) people likely to witness or experience overdose (“laypeople”); (b) police and firefighters; (c) emergency medical services (EMS) personnel; and (d) combinations of these groups.

More research  

ACMD young people’s drug use and naloxone provision

Following advice in response to COVID-19, 3 public evidence gathering days which were being arranged by the ACMD to inform reports on young people’s drug use and naloxone provision have been postponed until further notice. We are instead inviting relevant stakeholders to provide written submissions to help support these workstreams.

More Details

News/Updates

Middle-aged generation most likely to die by suicide and drug poisoning

Written on . Posted in Research, Updates

A generation of people born in the 1960s and 1970s, known as Generation X, are dying from suicide or drug poisoning in greater numbers than ever. ONS data for England and Wales has shown that in the late 1980s to early 1990s, the age at which most people died by taking their own lives or drug poisoning was concentrated around this generation, when they were in their 20s.

Finding a Needle in a Haystack: Take-Home Naloxone in England 2017/18

Written on . Posted in Research, Updates

Release surveyed each of the 152 local authority areas in England, as local authorities are responsible for commissioning drug services, which give out take-home naloxone. The report includes findings on the availability of take-home naloxone across local authority areas, the scale of take-home naloxone supply in community settings, and coverage among people who use opiates and opiate clients in drug treatment.

VR is just as effective for naloxone training as in-person instruction, study says

Written on . Posted in Press

Virtual reality opioid overdose prevention programs can be just as effective as in-person training to give people the knowledge and confidence to administer naloxone, according to a study conducted by the University of Pennsylvania and the Philadelphia Department of Public Health.

This website has been made possible through the provision of an arm length/unrestricted educational grant from Ethypharm. Ethypharm do not control and are not liable for any of the content placed, or any of the claims that may be made, on this site.

HIT