Call for provision of naloxone to help opioid addicts
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A drug to treat people who have overdosed on opioids has been administered almost 90 times since the start of this year.
The Health Service Executive says that there have been 89 administrations of naloxone reported to the executive since the start of this year across the country.
The drug is used to rapidly reverse the effects of an overdose of opioid drugs including heroin and methadone.
Naloxone is currently available in Ireland by prescription and comes in two types: intra-muscular and intra-nasal.
A statement from the Department of Health said: “The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that people likely to witness an opioid overdose, such as close friends, a partner or family member, and staff or volunteers working with people who use drugs should have access to naloxone and be trained to administer it.”
The HSE developed a Naloxone Training Programme for service providers after a successful pilot project in 2015.
Last June, a HSE report on the use of the drug in addiction and homeless service providers made a number of recommendations including the provision of enhanced training to include family members, close friends and gardaí.
Training in administration of the drug has been given to more than 500 people so far this year by the HSE.
According to the HSE, further engagement is taking place with gardaí for the provision of naloxone and naloxone administration training for frontline members.
Collaboration is also taking place with the Irish Prison Service for the provision of a naloxone nasal spray on release for prisoners with a history of opioid use. However, a spokesman for the IPS said the project is only in the very early stages.
A spokesman for the HSE said: “The HSE National Social Inclusion Office will continue to work with key stakeholders such as An Garda Síochána, the Irish Prison Service and hospital emergency department services to prioritise the roll out of the naloxone programme and the provision of training to staff. Meetings will continue over the summer months and progress will be reported at a later stage.”
A garda spokesman said: “The matter of the provision of training in the administering of naloxone by members of An Garda Síochána is under consideration.”
The HSE’s National Social Inclusion Office is also in collaboration with the Irish College of General Practitioners on creating an e-learning module to increase GPs’ awareness of drug-related deaths and the role of Naloxone.
Sinn Féin's spokesman for Addiction, Recovery and Wellbeing, Thomas Gould, is calling on the calling on the Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, “to immediately convene a working group with a strict timeline to determine the best next steps in Ireland’s administration of naloxone”.
The Cork North Central TD said: “Sinn Féin have commissioned a piece of research through the Library and Research Service in the Oireachtas. This research highlights that opioids were present in over 50% of drug-related deaths from 2008-2017 in this state.”
He added: “In the last two years, only 26 prescriptions for this life-saving drug have been issued. This is despite its potential benefits not only for those in active addiction but for those who have been prescribed opioids such as morphine and those in recovery utilising opioid-substitutes such as methadone. The potential benefits of this are far-reaching and I am deeply concerned that the current system is a barrier to those who need this vital drug.”