Anti-overdose drug Naloxone can save lives

In response to almost 5,500 deaths in England and Wales in 2023 due to drug poisoning The Salvation Army is calling for the roll-out of life-saving overdose reversal drug Naloxone in England and Wales. 

New annual figures* released this week by ONS (Office For National Statistics) show that during 2023 in England and Wales there were:

• 5,448 deaths related to drug poisoning, an increase of 541 people, or 11%, on the previous year (from 4,907 people)
• 5,053 of these deaths were in England
• 377 of these deaths were in Wales.

Deaths due to opioid poisonings from substances including super-strength Nitazenes.

• 2,551 deaths in 2023, which is an increase of 290 people on the previous year or a 12.8% increase (from 2,261 people in 2022).
• Compared with 2019 this is an increase of 391 people, or 18.1%, (pre-pandemic levels from 2,160 people).
• Compared to 2013 (over a 10-year period) the number of people who have died has increased by 959, or 60.3% (from 1,592 in 2013).

Lee Ball, The Salvation Army's Director of addictions, said:

“As a specialist provider of homelessness services, we see how substance use is often a way for people to cope with emotional distress, pain and trauma - a last resort. Our Naloxone programme has allowed us to issue 342 Naloxone kits last year and we have now used it in 89% of unresponsive overdoses across our services in England and Wales, 90 deaths were prevented.”

Naloxone, which can be given as a nasal spray or injection, temporarily reverses an opioid overdose to allow enough time for emergency services to arrive. While the previous government committed to making Naloxone more widely available, no timetable has been identified by the current government. The medicine is already successfully being administered by some frontline organisations including Police Scotland. The Salvation Army is encouraging Police forces in England and Wales to adopt a similar approach on a voluntary basis. England remains the only nation in Great Britain without a national program to fund an adequate supply.

To expand the use of Naloxone, The Salvation Army is calling for:

• The Government to bring forward a timetable on expanding the availability of Naloxone
• all frontline police officers in England and Wales to be trained and equipped to administer and distribute Naloxone
• NHS emergency departments, mental health Trusts and ambulance services across England and Wales to issue take-home Naloxone kits for those at risk of opioid overdose
• a Government-funded national Naloxone programme for England, currently the only UK nation without one.

Lee Ball added: “At The Salvation Army, we take a compassionate harm reduction approach, which means removing moral judgement from health and social care to support the person to address the cause as much as the consequence of drug use. In this way, we have supported thousands of people to build a sense of hope for their future.

“Through our work we see that drugs are often a way to cope with despair and distress due to a feeling of hopelessness for many reasons including personal trauma and poverty. Every death that results from overdose is a tragedy, even more so when that life could have been saved with Naloxone. It is safe, simple and effective, and it's quick and easy to use. If first responders including police officers are supplied with Naloxone and trained in its use we could save lives.”