Dianova joins the IOAD campaign to promote effective overdose prevention strategies and advocate a public health-based approach to drugs
There has been a steep increase in drug overdose incidence and prevalence in several countries of the world over the bast decade, yet global attention to this public health problem has been limited by comparison with its scope – Photo by Anthony Tran on Unsplash
By the Dianova team – International Overdose Awareness Day (IOAD) on 31 August is an initiative that aims to raise public awareness of drug overdoses and encourage action and debate on how to better prevent them. The campaign was first launched in Australia in 2001 and has since become a global initiative with over a thousand events organized on every continent.
A global crisis
The overdose epidemic is a global crisis. Over the past twenty years, drug overdose deaths have skyrocketed in many parts of the world. Each year, record numbers of deaths are recorded, mainly associated with the use of opioids, often in combination with other drugs, including benzodiazepines, stimulants and alcohol.
According to the UNODC World Drug Report (2023), in 2021 one in 17 people aged 15-64 had used a drug in the past 12 months, an increase of 23% since 2011.
Opioid use accounts for two thirds (69%) of overdose deaths. The estimated number of people using opioids worldwide has doubled, from 26-36 million in 2010 to 61.3 million in 2020. Several opioid overdose epidemics are currently under way. The first is linked to the growing presence of fentanyl, a highly potent synthetic opioid, in the United States and Canada. The second is raging in North Africa, West Africa, the Middle East and Southwest Asia due to the non-medical use of tramadol, another synthetic opioid. What’s more, another class of synthetic opioids, the nitazenes, which can be more potent than fentanyl, have recently emerged in several developed countries, leading to an increase in overdose deaths.
#IOAD2024 #TogetherWeCan #EndOverdose
One of the 2024 World Drug Report‘s booklet dedicated to contemporary issues on drugs offers a multi-dimensional framework on the right to health in the context of drug use. This section, requested by a group of some 24 Member States, is particularly timely as it provides an overview of the global situation with regard to drug-related deaths (the report refers to data from 2019). UNODC points out that people who use drugs continue to face alarming levels of overdose mortality, that people who inject drugs are 14 times more likely to be infected with HIV than the general population, and that half of all drug-related deaths are still associated with untreated hepatitis C.
Losing someone to an oversdose can bring a pain that is almost unbearable, however taking action to help prevent overdoses in our communities is the best way to honour their memory – Photo by Валерия Прокопович on Unsplash
Some of the new drugs available today – particularly synthetic opioids and amphetamine-type stimulants – are more dangerous than their counterparts were twenty or even ten years ago. In ten years, 1 235 new psychoactive substances have been reported in 142 countries and territories. Opioids are the most harmful group of new substances, but also the fastest growing: some 88 different types of these new substances have been registered worldwide in 2021, compared with just one in 2009 (source: Global Overdose Snapshot, Pennington Institute).
Reliable data on overdoses are scarce in all but a few countries and regions. In many low-income countries, overdose deaths are often classified as heart attacks or respiratory failure. This is partly due to the widespread stigmatization of drug use, fear of police harassment, political pressure and inadequate coronial systems in these countries. Finally, the illegal nature of many drugs and the stigma associated with their use means that in many parts of the world there is an enormous reluctance to acknowledge, let alone report, drug-related deaths.
Preventing overdoses is possible
All overdoses are preventable. There are a number of evidence-based policies and practices that can reverse the physiological effects of overdose or prevent it from happening in the first place. These practices are part of policies aimed at reducing the harm associated with drug use and are consistent with a human rights-based perspective.
One of the aims of this International Day is to raise awareness of these strategies and tools to prevent the harm and death associated with overdoses. However, if we are to respond effectively to this global epidemic, we need to involve communities in raising awareness and advocating change. We also need to generate new ideas and knowledge by listening to those with lived experience of overdose and drug use.
The proponents of the IOAD campaign believe that in order to truly address the overdose crisis, we need to look beyond criminalization and embrace compassionate, evidence-based alternatives that focus on health and dignity – Image: screenshot from the IOAD campaign’s home page, all rights reserved
The issue of overdose is a complex one, involving misunderstandings and misconceptions about drugs and people who use them, as well as high levels of stigma and discrimination against the latter. As a result, too many people are still very poorly informed about the risks associated with drug use. Our collective response to overdose prevention requires a global commitment from governments, health-related organizations and beyond, and from a compassionate and well-informed community.
We must take an active stance and deconstruct the false narratives that would have us believe that simply providing information about preventing overdose is tantamount to glorifying drug use. Non-judgmental, non-stigmatizing information on safe drug use and overdose prevention must be available and accessible in all addiction care and support services, from prevention programmes, therapeutic communities and other residential facilities to harm reduction services. People must have the tools to make informed choices, while respecting their rights and autonomy.
Dianova International and its members are committed to overdose prevention as part of the continuum of care in addiction programmes and services. Dianova believes that access to adequate, evidence-based information is a fundamental right.
The campaign: tools to save lives
The campaign’s online overdose prevention page is available in nearly thirty languages. The site aims to help individuals and communities prevent overdoses, in particular by providing information on the main risk factors associated with overdoses (poly-drug use, dependence, altered drug tolerance, adulterated or contaminated substances, etc.). It also encourages people to equip themselves with the tools and knowledge they need to deal with an overdose, depending on the type of drug or combination of drugs used.
Lastly, the site provides a series of links to learn more about the different types of overdose prevention tools available, including naloxone distribution programmes – a life-saving drug that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose – safe consumption sites, opioid substitution treatment, needle and syringe exchange programmes, and drug checking services that analyze drug contents and provide users with information about the drugs they’re using.
We have the tools we need to prevent overdoses and save lives: naloxone, harm reduction services, overdose information tools and safe consumption sites are all proven. The solutions are there, let’s use them.
The campaign: a commitment
Finally, the campaign is an advocacy commitment. First, by emphasizing that criminalizing drug use does more harm than good. To overcome the overdose crisis, we need to move beyond the reductionist vision of criminalization and promote compassionate, science-based alternatives that focus on people’s health and respect for their dignity.
Policies and laws exist first and foremost to protect individuals and communities and to ensure that their human rights and basic needs are respected. That is why Dianova joins this International day to advocate policies that prioritize care over repression. By promoting supportive rather than punitive approaches, we can build a system that truly meets the needs of people who use drugs.
