MEDICINE that can help to save the lives of drug users who accidentally overdose is to be made increasingly available across North Yorkshire.

Naloxone effectively buys time to get further treatment by counteracting the effect of opiates. It is issued to people who use drugs, family members and institutions like hostels, which expect contact with drug users.

Since 2018, North Yorkshire Horizons, the specialist service that delivers drug and alcohol support for adults on behalf of the county council, has issued around 1,450 kits to clients using opiates, including codeine. These can be administered either through injection or a nasal spray.

As North Yorkshire County Council throws its support behind International Overdose Awareness Day on August 31, it has been announced the Naloxone programme is being extended, with the objective of reducing the risk of fatal overdose, to more people.

The council and partners, including North Yorkshire Police, are involved in wide-ranging work to help to prevent the loss of lives through drug use.

Executive member for health and adult services at the council, councillor Michael Harrison, said: “North Yorkshire Horizons have been very active in getting Naloxone into the parts of the community where it is most needed in recent years.

“Thankfully, it is easy to administer and we know it has saved the lives of residents, so the next job is to get it issued even more widely.

“It provides time for emergency services to arrive and for further treatment to be given. That time can be vital.

“Every death from an overdose is preventable and we are determined to do everything possible to prevent them happening.

"We are doing lots of things in North Yorkshire, with our partners, to try to reduce deaths linked to overdoses and Naloxone is a very effective tool to help us do that.”

Drug users are offered a kit and those who have refused will be approached again with a fresh offer. It is hoped to get the kits to more outlets, including mental health workers who, experience has shown, are likely to find themselves in contact with drug users. Other key organisations, which may be first responders to an overdose, may also be included in future.

Naloxone is not a “cure” for an overdose but reverses the effects of opiates, which allows time to seek full medical attention.

The Government is encouraging the wider availability of Naloxone and North Yorkshire’s programme is intended to support that.

Recent statistics show drug overdose poisonings and deaths increased nationally by six per cent last year, part of an ongoing trend that has taken deaths to the highest since records began. In North Yorkshire, figures were down slightly from previous year and the North Yorkshire Horizons service and other partners are working hard to try to minimise the ongoing risk.