Overdose Prevention – Page 3 – European Harm Reduction Network

Monitoring and evaluation of harm reduction services and policies, helps to improve the access of and quality of care for people who use drugs. Our next webinar will discuss the recent monitoring data relating to the State and Challenges of Overdose Prevention, on 13th July at 4PM.

This webinar will present the C-EHRN Monitoring Data Report 2021 key findings in the field of Overdose Prevention and discuss them with representatives from different European organizations and institutions.
Programme:
4:00 PM Welcome and Introduction | Katrin Schiffer [C-EHRN]
4:05 PM Key findings of the Monitoring Report on Overdose Prevention – Rafaela Rigoni (C-EHRN)
4:20 PM Panel Discussion | Adriana Curado [GAT], Aljona Kurbatova [TAI], Dirk Schaeffer, Marios Aztemis [Positive Voice], Rafaela Rigoni [C-EHRN]. Moderator: Katrin Schiffer (C-EHRN)
5:00 PM Conclusions and closing | Katrin Schiffer [C-EHRN]

Correlation – European Harm Reduction Network is excited to invite you to the online webinar series of its Civil Society Monitoring of Harm Reduction in Europe in 2021. In the coming months, we would like to invite you to join us in discussing the main key findings of our Data Report 2021 in a series of dialogues with harm reduction professionals, policymakers, researchers and European agencies, among others:

Webinar 01 | Launch Monitoring Report 2021
11th of May 16:00h – 16:45h

Webinar 02 | Hepatitis C & Drug Use
15th of June 16:00h – 17:00h

Webinar 03 | State & Challenges of Overdose Prevention
13th of July 16:00h – 17:00h

Webinar 04 | COVID-19 Impacts on Harm Reduction
14th of September 16:00h – 17:00h

Webinar 05 | Monitoring New Drugs Trends
12th of October 16:00h – 17:00h

The main aim and purpose of C-EHRN monitoring activities is to improve knowledge and information and complement existing data and monitoring efforts in Europe in specific areas of harm reduction based on the perspective of civil society organisations (CSOs). The data collected helps us to assess the implementation of certain drug and health policies at the national and local levels and supports our advocacy efforts at the European and EU Member State levels.

The adapted 2021 civil society monitoring incorporated the experiences from the past years. During evaluation meetings with our expert groups, it was decided to keep most of the questionnaires in 2020 intact for 2021. That was done both because the questionnaire of 2020 has worked reasonably well and also to allow for comparisons between 2021 and the previous year.

We kept our focus on the situation at the city level which allowed for more accurate and precise information. Consequently, the information provided in this report sometimes represents the situation in a particular city or region. Although this information is not representative of a country, it reflects the fact that the situation in a country is diverse and most often dependent upon the approach at the city level. Small modifications were made for clarity in the sections on essential harm reduction services, overdose prevention, Hepatitis C, civil society involvement and new drug trends. More modifications were made in the COVID-19 section to cover a new phase of the pandemic.

In addition to the survey, and on an experimental basis, the expert groups decided to try new forms of data collection. In 2 countries – Finland and the UK – online Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) will be performed to gather data on new drug trends. That was decided due to the low response rate in the online survey and also due to feedback from our Focal Points that this remains the most difficult section of the survey to complete.

More than one hundred organisations and individuals from 34 European countries have contributed to this Monitoring Report. Thanks go to our Focal Points and associated experts at the national and local levels who have filled in the online questionnaire and provided all information and data on time. Without their dedication and commitment, we would not have been able to produce this report.

On the 1tth of May 2022, Correlation – European Harm Reduction Network launched its Civil Society Monitoring of Harm Reduction in Europe in 2021.

With the contributions of more than one hundred organizations and individuals from 34 European countries, the development and implementation of the Civil Society Monitoring Tool for Harm Reduction are one of the most important achievements of C-EHRN in recent years. The main aim of C-EHRN monitoring activities is to improve knowledge and information and complement existing data and monitoring efforts in Europe in specific areas of harm reduction based on the perspective of civil society organisations. As such, C-EHRN’s monitoring activities acknowledge the important function of civil society and harm reduction services and foster their expert role in national and European drug policy.

During this webinar, C-EHRN launched the Data Report 2021, presented its key findings and discussed them with representatives from different European organizations and institutions.

Harm Reduction International has monitored the use of the death penalty for drug offences worldwide since its first ground-breaking publication on this issue in 2007. This report, their eleventh on the subject, continues their work of providing regular updates on legislative, policy and practical developments related to the use of capital punishment for drug offences, a practice which is a clear violation of international law.

The Death Penalty for Drug Offences: Global Overview 2021 found that:

35 countries still retain the death penalty for drug offences.
At least 131 people were executed for drug offences in 2021 – a 336% increase from 2020. However, due to a severe lack of transparency, if not outright censorship, this is only a partial picture. This figure likely represents only a fraction of all drug-related executions carried out globally.
There was an 11 percent increase year in known death sentences for drug offences from the previous year. A minimum of 237 death sentences for drug crimes were reported in at least 16 countries.
Roughly a tenth of all known death sentences for drugs were given to foreign nationals. This brings with it a host of fair trial and human rights concerns, as well as heart-breaking stories of people stuck outside of their home countries.
No drug-related executions were carried out in Saudi Arabia, for the first year in over a decade.
No one was executed in Singapore for the second consecutive year and in Indonesia for the fifth consecutive year.
At least 3000 people are believed to be on death row for drug offences.
A number of individuals on death row for drug offences experience physical and/or mental health issues. At least three people with mental health issues or intellectual disability are currently on death row for drug offences in Singapore.
After a year-long hiatus, drug-related death sentences were confirmed in Bangladesh (3+), Egypt (11+) and Kuwait (1+). Death sentences for drug offences were also reported for the first time since 2018 in the United Arab Emirates (1+), and in Iraq (2+).

Read the report

A new report (9 March) from the Dutch Harm Reduction Network (HRN) provides an update on harm reduction services in the Netherlands, based on an investigation conducted in 2021.

HRN monitors the state of affairs of HR services in the Netherlands, and provides regular updates. It is part of the department of Drugs at the Trimbos Institute and funded by the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports (VWS).

The report is the result of data collected through interviews with employees in different harm reduction services: drug consumption rooms (DCRs), opioid substitution treatment centres (OSTs), heroin-assisted treatment units (HATs) and needle and syringe exchange programmes (NSPs).

The aim of the report is to provide a brief overview of the current state of affairs of harm reduction (HR) services in the Netherlands and to present recent developments and future challenges. The main topics of interest in the study were:

The current state of affairs of HR services (e.g. provision of services, daily work practices,
number and type of clients, capacity)
Recent developments at the HR services (e.g. changes in target groups in the past 5 years)
Challenges that HR services are facing in the (near) future

Read the report

Today, 31 August, is the annual International Overdose Awareness Day, which aims to raise awareness of one of the world’s worst public health crises and commemorate those lost to a drug overdose. The key message – that the tragedy of overdose death is preventable and more must be done to save lives – is at the very heart of C-EHRN’s aims.

What we know
In May 2021, the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) published an update to its technical report ‘Drug-related deaths and mortality in Europe‘.

According to the report, in 2018, over 8,300 deaths involving one or more illicit drugs were reported in the European Union, rising to over 9,200 when Turkey and Norway were included. Multiple drug toxicity is implicated in most cases, with opioids being the most common cause of fatal overdoses; cocaine has been involved in an increasing number of overdoses, frequently combined with heroin or other opioids.

C-EHRN publishes an annual monitoring report on civil society-led harm reduction activities across Europe, produced with the support and input from its vast network of focal points. The 2020 report compiles responses from focal points around the conditions and characteristics of drug overdoses. Some of the most frequent characteristics were:

● Experiencing homelessness
● Using drugs alone
● Engaging in polydrug-use
● Not calling for emergency help for fear of the police
● Not having access to naloxone

Addressing the issues
The findings in the monitoring report help to shape the activities and priorities of C-EHRN and its members. The following examples demonstrate some of the overdose prevention work currently in place:

Amplifying the voices of people who use drugs
“Nothing about us without us”. EuroNPUD – the European Network of People who Use Drugs – supports the growth and development of drug user networking and advocacy across the European Union and represents the interests of people who use drugs to European institutions.

In 2020 EuroNPUD worked with their UK partners to undertake a peer designed and delivered naloxone access and advocacy project to coincide with International Overdose Awareness Day. The project’s focus was to highlight the role of naloxone in responding to opioid overdose, describe the existing response and barriers to accessing naloxone in the UK, and advocate for expanded peer-to-peer access.

It included peer-led focus groups, mystery shopping exercises around naloxone accessibility, advocacy briefings on the findings, next steps, and the benefits of peer2peer naloxone distribution, all held with local service delivery partners and peers.

Naloxone Click and Deliver Service
Scotland currently has the highest drug-induced mortality rate in Europe. Provided by Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol and Drugs, with the support of the Scottish Drugs Forum, this Service supplies a take-home naloxone service to anyone over 16.
Naloxone can reverse the effects of opioid overdoses almost immediately and lasts long enough for the person to receive medical treatment.

Drug Consumption Rooms (DCRs)
A mobile DCR was launched in Lisbon in 2019, co-managed by Grupo de Ativistas em Tratamentos and Médicos do Mundo. The facility aims to contribute to the health, safety and quality of life of people who inject drugs by providing access to safer injecting consumption conditions and preventing the risks and harm associated with injecting.

May 2021 saw the opening of Lisbon’s first fixed DCR, located in a part of the city with intense drug trafficking and high drug use in public spaces. While Ares Do Pinhal manages the DCR, the people who use the service are also involved in its daily operation.

Alongside providing a safer space, both facilities also offer education for safer consumption; distribution of consumables such as syringes; provision of primary health care; peer and psychosocial support; and rapid testing for HIV, Hepatitis B and C, as well as syphilis.

Further information
● Go to the official International Overdose Awareness Day website
● Read C-EHRN briefing papers on overdose prevention:
o Part 1: Status Quo and Challenges
o Part 2: New Technology-Based Solutions
● Read C-EHRN Chapter on Overdose Prevention in the Monitoring Report 2020
● View other publications on overdose prevention in the C-EHRN Resource centre
● Interested in becoming a part of our monitoring activity? Contact us or the focal point in your country
● Become a C-EHRN member

Register for Webinar on State & Challenges of Overdose Prevention

Online Webinars 2022

Monitoring Data Report 2021

Online Launch Data Report 2021

New report – The Death Penalty for Drug Offences: Global Overview 2021

Harm reduction services in the Netherlands: recent developments and future challenges

International Overdose Awareness Day 2021