HARM REDUCTION
A CRUCIAL CO
Change Grow
Live’s National
Naloxone
Conversation
event was a vital
opportunity
to keep up the
momentum for
widening access,
says Pete Furlong
16 • DRINK AND DRUGS NEWS • MARCH 2020
O
ur sector is very
aware of the
crucial need
to increase
naloxone access
and availability
nationally. Last year’s ONS figures
on drug-related deaths showed
4,359 fatalities related to drug
poisoning in England and Wales,
the highest number and annual
increase – at 16 per cent – since
the data set began in 1993
(DDN, September 2019, page 4).
More than 2,200 had an opiate
specifically implicated.
To address this need, Change
Grow Live hosted a National
Naloxone Conversation event in
Manchester in January, bringing
together professionals, activists,
and naloxone peer educators to
collaborate on new thinking and
solutions to widen the availability
of naloxone across the UK.
Attendees also included Change
Grow Live staff and clinicians,
service user reps, Addaction
(now We Are With You) clinical
representatives and Red Rose
Recovery staff, and all contributed
to wide and varied discussions and
planning for further development
of naloxone interventions.
As harm reduction lead for
Change Grow Live’s North West
region, it fell to myself and Zac
McMaster – head of services for
Change Grow Live Mersey and
Cheshire region – to welcome more
than 35 delegates from across the
country. To set the scene, I outlined
the journey our sector has been
on over the last decade regarding
take-home naloxone (THN).
Many of us have had to address
the concerns of those who feared
that the supply of THN would
increase risk-taking behaviours
among opiate users, but today
we’re able to point to a continually
increasing global evidence base that
naloxone saves lives. This, coupled
with the need to urgently address
the growing number of drug-
related deaths, means that THN
is now a core component of most
new tender specifications and the
majority of commissioners welcome
more innovation in widening the
availability of naloxone for those
most at risk of opiate overdose.
We heard from Kirsten
Horsburgh from the Scottish Drug
Forum (SDF) about how Glasgow’s
peer supply programme, originally
Many of us have
had to address
the concerns of
those who feared
that the supply
of THN would
increase risk-
taking behaviours
among opiate
users, but today
we’re able to point
to a continually
increasing global
evidence base that
naloxone saves
lives.
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