CRI is supporting the Naloxone Action Group's campaign to widen provision of take-home naloxone in England.
Naloxone is an effective treatment in cases of acute opioid overdose, and its widespread use in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as part of national take home naloxone programmes has been shown to be highly effective. England is the only country in the UK to have seen an increase in the number of deaths from opioid overdose in 2013, and this needs to change.
The campaign is being coordinated by the Naloxone Action Group and follows a recommendation by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs that naloxone should be made more widely available to tackle the high numbers of fatal opioid overdoses in England.
Professor Oscar D’Agnone, CRI’s Medical Director said:
“The recent 32% increase in opioid overdose deaths reported by the Office for National Statistics is extremely concerning for everyone working in the substance misuse field. Urgent action needs to be taken to tackle this issue, which is why we are committed to supporting the Naloxone Action Group’s call for more widespread provision of naloxone in England.
“Schemes to provide naloxone, accompanied by training in its use for drug users and their families have proven to be effective in reducing drug-related deaths and harm. If we can make this intervention more widely available, we may be able to prevent fatal overdoses and get more people the expert help and support they need.”
Read more about the campaign on the Naloxone Action Group website.
To support the campaign, please write to your MP and ask them to sign the Early Day Motion 445, which calls on the Government to prioritise the roll-out of naloxone across the whole of the UK.
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Download our template letter (Word doc).
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To find out your MP's name and address, use the Parliament.uk website.