Three in five people at risk of overdose receive naloxone kits

Around 60 per cent of people at risk of an opioid overdose in Scotland have received specialist kits to prevent a potentially fatal outcome, according to a report

Naloxone is a drug which reverses the effects of an overdose and provides time for emergency services to give further treatment.

The medication is given out as take-home naloxone (THN) kits which are handed out by pharmacies, services in the community, prisons, NHS Boards and the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS).

According to a Public Health Scotland report issued on Tuesday, the "reach" - the proportion of a population at risk of harm from opioid overdose who have received THN treatment - was estimated to be 59.17% by June.

The recent figure is an increase of about 1.5% compared to the period between January and March this year.

Scotland's record of drug-related deaths has been described as an "undoubted crisis" - with a record 1,339 fatalities recorded in 2020.

Last week, Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain QC said fresh consideration could be given to the establishment of safe drug consumption rooms.

She told MSPs that any plans for such a facility would have to be "precise, detailed, specific and underpinned by evidence" before this could happen.

Between April and 30 June this, 5,363 THN kits were issued in total, the PHS report said.

Of these, 4,049 were distributed by services based in the community which was 36% higher than the period between January and March (2,985).

The figure, however, was 19% lower than in the same period last year (5,018), when lockdown measures were in force throughout Scotland.

In 84% of the cases receiving treatment in the community, 72% were male, 24% were aged 45 years or over, 43% were aged 35 to 44 years, 27% were aged 25-34 years and 5% were under 25 years of age.

The PHS data showed the number of THN kits issued on prison release in 2020/21 was 1,240 - the highest annual total observed since the National Naloxone Programme began in 2011.

The report said the increase could be associated with Scottish Prison Service's Covid Early Release Scheme - where low risk prisoners were released temporarily - and the impact of the pandemic.

It added the number of kits being issued on release from prison custody has increased year on year since 2017/18, which may reflect longer term trends.

Between April and June this year, 364 kits issued by prisons were supplied to individuals at risk of opioid overdose of which 79% were male and a quarter (15%) were under 25 years of age, according to the report.

In the same period, 752 kits were dispensed by community pharmacies, a 35% decrease in the number distributed in the period between January and March this year (1,153).

The report, however, did point to "noteworthy changes" in the number of THN kits handed out by pharmacies between April and June this year.

NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde dispensed 133 THN kits, a decrease of 84% compared to the beginning of 2021.

But the number of kits supplied between April and June was comparable to the pre-Covid-19 supply figures for the Glasgow NHS board (an average of 144 kits per quarter in 2019/20), the report added.

Due to operational pressures, Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) were only able to provide data for April and May during which it supplied 158 kits, the report said.