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ID: HR19-1060

Presenting author: Mat Southwell

Presenting author biography:

Mat Southwell is Project Manager of EuroNPUD, a Technical Consultant with Coact and runs the Secretariat for the Drugs Civil Society Group that links 25 civil society networks and UNODC Global HIV Programme. Mat is a harm reduction practitioner, drug user activist and technical advisor specialising in community mobilisation.

Peer-led quality review of opioid overdose management in the UK and advocating for peer-to-peer distribution of Naloxone - EuroNPUD's Naloxone Access and Advocacy Project

Mat Southwell, Erin O'Mara, Amy Massey, Stephen Malloy

Issue and Setting:
EuroNPUD supported local drug users in Liverpool, Burnley and Blackpool to review local access to Naloxone and to advocate for the scale up of high-quality opioid overdose management in the UK. The project was funded with an unrestricted educational grant from Martindales.

Project:
Focus groups and mystery shopper events were conducted in each site. These highlighted the successful roll out of Naloxone through specialist drug services. However, a number of barriers were also identified that prevent drug users and their families from accessing Naloxone undermining their ability to save the lives of their peers or family members. EuroNPUD presented the results of the area reviews to local partnership meetings including local peers, family members, commissioners and service providers in each area. This allowed for troubleshooting of the barriers including a discussion of the role of peers in enhancing the quality and reach of opioid overdose management services.

EuroNPUD conducted a review of 5 peer-to-peer Naloxone programmes from Canberra Australia, Glasgow Scotland, Kachin Myanmar, London England, and Minnesota USA. A technical briefing described how drug users can be empowered to distribute Naloxone to their peers. 10 peer workers distributed more Naloxone in the first 11 months in one district of Glasgow than every healthcare professional distributed across the whole of Glasgow in the previous year highlighting the potential of drug users to support scale up.

Outcomes:
This resulted in a commitment to joint working to address local barriers to access and the piloting of peer-to-peer Naloxone programmes in the three targeted areas. A Process Report have been developed to support further advocacy with Parliamentarians, national and local policy makers and service providers. A Toolkit and the Technical Briefing have been developed to support the implementation of the EuroNPUD Naloxone Access and Advocacy Project in other settings.