ACMD review of naloxone provision 2022

The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs(ACMD) has published a self-commissioned review of the evidence on the provision and availability of naloxone in the UK. Naloxone is a medicine that can temporarily reverse the effects of opioids and is used as an emergency treatment for people suspected to be experiencing an opioid overdose. The review looks at the provision and availability of naloxone and has made a number of recommendations to optimise the use of naloxone to reduce drug-related harms.

BDP supply the majority of naloxone in the Bristol area and because of this we were asked to contribute to the report. We submitted information on the prevalence and provision of naloxone, how many people were carrying it, how many people are using it and a series of recommendations from our own experiences that would improve naloxone provision in the UK. This information was comprised of statistics from our records, along with input, opinions and case studies from BDP service users, people who have received naloxone training from BDP and our staff.

We welcome the recommendations put forward by the ACMD after gathering this wealth of evidence which include:

• Improving the quality of the data of take-home naloxone across the UK
• Using evidence to increase naloxone carriage
• Greater provision to those leaving prison
• Increase carriage within emergency service staff
• Allowing all community pharmacies to provide naloxone as some are currently unable to do so