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Australian National Council on Drugs recognises important contributions to reducing overdoses and saving livesSunday the 31st of August is ‘Overdose Awareness Day’On average at least one fatal drug overdose occurs every day in Australia. Although the level of opiate related overdose fatalities has fallen dramatically over the last decade from a tragic 3-4 people dying each day on average to around 400 people a year, this is still far too many lives being lost unnecessarily. Each life lost represents a loss for Australia and a tragedy for their families. The reasons for the significant decline in fatal opiate related overdoses are many and varied — the effectiveness of law enforcement in reducing supply and the health sector’s provision of treatment contribute greatly but so do the many programs that educate and inform drug users on how to reduce their risk of overdose (and other drug related harms) and how to save someone from an overdose becoming a fatality. The Australian National Council on Drugs sees today as an opportunity to publicly recognise some of this good work that often goes unreported. Police officers, customs agents, paramedics, drug and alcohol workers and others deserve our thanks and support. In particular the ANCD would like to recognise 3 areas of work being undertaken in Australia for their contributions: The Red Cross ‘Save a Mate’ (SAM) ProgramSAM delivers training to more than 10,000 young people each year and directly reaches more than 30,000 people through its peer education initiatives. SAM is delivered in all states and territories and has over 300 volunteers nationally who deliver training courses and attend youth festivals and events conducting first aid and health promotion. The program was originally designed to address the rise in heroin overdoses that were occurring in young people and in 2008 was recognised for its work with an International award presented during the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs meeting in Vienna. The award was for “Innovative Drug Policy — for contributing to Global Drug Policy by promoting and implementing effective health-based solutions to the drug problem”. In particular save-a-mate was commended as “an important initiative in drug policy and a powerful illustration of how a health based approach to drug policy effectively and poignantly relieves suffering and reduces drug-related damage to individuals, families and society.” The model of the SAM program is now being implemented by a number of Red Cross Societies internationally including NZ who will be launching the initiative in September. Red Cross Contact: Ms Kate Marshall 02 9229 4184 or 0448 326335 The NUAA Booklet: Living to Tell the Tale — A User's Guide on Heroin OverdoseThe NSW Users & AIDS Association’s (NUAA) was established as an independent, user-driven community based organisation in the face of a growing HIV epidemic by a group of drug users, their friends, families and supporters. NUAA provides education, practical support, information and advocacy to users of illicit drugs, their friends, and allies. NUAA has often led the way in developing innovative approaches to peer education and community development, and has contributed to Australia having one of the lowest HIV rates amongst injecting drug users in the world. As part of this innovative work NUAA has developed a booklet by users - for users, about reducing overdoses. The booklet is part of a larger project designed to increase awareness of the risk of heroin overdose, reduce the chances of overdosing and inform users of what to do if someone does overdose. NUAA provides our community with an invaluable opportunity to talk to those most at risk. NUAA Contact: Ms Nicky Bath 0432 328 706 The Mirabel FoundationMirabel is the only organisation in Australia specifically addressing the needs of a vulnerable group of children. These children and the pain and loss they suffer as a result of parental substance use are often overlooked in our society. Mirabel supports children aged 0-17 years who have parents that have died or are unable to care for them as a result of drug use and works at restoring a child’s sense of self-worth, belonging and hope for the future in order for them to reach their full potential as young adults. Mirabel provides advocacy, referral, research, practical and emotional assistance to the children and their kinship carers. It leads the way in providing a community response to these families and reducing the stigma and isolation they experience. Mirabel is Victorian based with some services also extended to New South Wales. Mirabel identified and filled a gap in the assistance available with the provision of innovative and individual services to a group of children and families that had been largely overlooked by both government and the community. Mirabel Foundation Contact: Ms Jane Rowe 0414 596 320 Unfortunately the level of non-fatal overdoses in Australia remains far too high to become complacent about our achievements to date. Behind every fatal overdose there are many overdoses that could have but thankfully did not end in a death. The ANCD recognises that to further reduce the tragedy of overdoses there are some initiatives that governments and communities could consider and these include:
Number of accidental deaths due to opioids among those aged 15–54 years (1988–2005), Australia
Degenhardt, L., & Roxburgh, A. (2007). Accidental drug-induced deaths due to opioids in Australia, 2005. Sydney: National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre. The Australian National Council on Drugs is the principal advisory body to Government on drug and alcohol issues. ANCD Contact: Mr Gino Vumbaca 0408 244 552
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