By Professor John Robertson OBA
The Guardian today has:
Australian demand for overdose drug naloxone more than doubles after spike in synthetic opioid deaths
but no mention of Scotland in the report.
Why might it have?
This:
Scotland was the first country in the world [2011] to introduce a national naloxone programme, empowering individuals, families, friends and communities to reverse an opiate overdose.
From Public Health Scotland in August 2021:
Since the establishment of the National Naloxone Programme in 2011/12:
• 74,629 THN kits have been issued by services based in the community.
• 8,793 THN kits have been issued by prisons in Scotland.
• 10,388 THN kits have been dispensed by community pharmacies.
• Overall, a total of 93,966 THN kits have been supplied by the National Naloxone
Programme.
• An estimated total of 32,930 people at risk of opioid overdose have been supplied with THN
since the start of the National Naloxone Programme.
The National Naloxone Programme is an important harm reduction measure in Scotland’s efforts
to reduce the numbers of drug-related deaths. It continues to ensure that people have the
medication necessary to prevent a fatal opioid overdose and has saved many lives.
From the Pharmaceutical Journal in July 2021:
Naloxone kit supply may have saved almost 1,400 lives in 2020, report finds
There has been a large increase in the uptake of take-home naloxone kits in Scotland, and the emergency antidote for overdoses caused by heroin and other opioids is likely to have saved many lives.
Did Scotland’s media cover this?
Of course not.
Two years later:
From healthandcare.scot, in August 2023:
An independent evaluation of a mass media campaign on how to prevent drug deaths show it has had a positive impact on public awareness and increased the community supply of life-saving naloxone.
The Scottish Government commissioned ‘How to Save a Life’ campaign led to a surge in take-home naloxone – medication which can temporarily reverse an opioid overdose – during its run time between August and October 2021.
[Drug deaths began to fall by 21% in 2022, after falling by 1% in 2021 for the first time after years on climbing]
Adverts on television, radio, social media as well as physical advertising like billboards directed the public on how to access e-learning to administer naloxone and order the kits to their homes. The total number of kits distributed across the community in Scotland increased by 126% to a peak of 27,000 during the mass media campaign.
CEO Kirsten Horsburgh says the evaluation shows the real value and impact of the campaign:
“It is important to understand that many will have reached parts of the community that have not previously been reached in terms of naloxone supply.
“When naloxone kits reach the most marginalised people, are used in an emergency overdose situation and people are then re-supplied with naloxone, we see the potential for sustained impact initiated through the campaign.”
Scotland was the first country in the world to implement a national naloxone programme, which saw take-home naloxone (THN) given to those released from prison and distributed to community drug services.
Naloxone provision has since been expanded to the police [from February 2022] ambulance crews and even Edinburgh taxi drivers. Anyone in Scotland can now order a free naloxone kit from national charity Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol & Drugs (SFAD) and be trained in its use.
Opiates and opioids [treatable with Naloxone], including heroin, morphine and methadone, were implicated in more than 8 out of 10 drug related deaths in 2022.
Did Scotland’s media cover this?
Of course not.
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
”Highest drug deaths in Europe ” – now THAT’S the kind of news that Scotland’s media want to publish !
Good News stories about drugs don’t happen in Scotland – certainly not under an SNP Government !
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