The aim of this evaluation was to establish whether the current model of naloxone provision and training across all Health and Social Care (HSC) Trusts in Northern Ireland is sufficient and to identify areas for development.
The supply of ‘Take Home Naloxone’ (THN) was initiated (pilot project) in 2009 as a harm reduction tool used to prevent fatal opioid poisonings, and has since been fully implemented across all health boards in Wales. This report provides data on the training and provision of THN kits from 49 registries across Wales recorded on the Harm Reduction Database Wales (HRD) during the period 1st April 2015 to 31st March 2016.
In recent years, there have been substantial increases in the number of people dying in the UK where illicit drugs are reported to be involved in their death. The largest increase has been in deaths related to the misuse of opioid substances; 2,677 opioid-related deaths were registered in the UK in 2015. The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) therefore set up a dedicated working group to examine how to reduce drug-related deaths, with a focus on opioid-related deaths.
Too many Americans die of overdoses that could be prevented by a combination of policy shifts and education. New efforts to fight overdose—like a recently announced Obama administration initiative—are underway. But surprisingly, for a condition that is so common and so deadly, some key details remain widely unknown—details that could be life-saving in the right hands. If we want to prevent overdose, we need to gather and distribute this information to those who need it most.
