Intranasal Naloxone: Overcoming Opioid Overdose

Naloxone has been approved and used since 1971 as an antidote to respiratory failure during opioid overdose, primarily by emergency medical services. Research is accumulating to suggest that this agent administered intranasally by caregivers at home may have even far-greater lifesaving potential.

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HARM REDUCTION AND HIV

Harm reduction is a way of dealing with behavior that damages the health of the person involved and of their community. Harm reduction tries to improve individual and community health.
Much of the work on harm reduction has been in connection with drug use. This fact sheet focuses on harm reduction applied to drug use and HIV.

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IHRA Release Position Statement Defining Harm Reduction

After months of discussion and consultation with partners, the International Harm Reduction Association (IHRA) Board of Directors and staff have released a detailed position statement defining the term ‘harm reduction’. The statement outlines a set of underlying principles which best describe this approach, and offers the following definition:

‘Harm Reduction’ refers to policies, programmes and practices that aim primarily to reduce the adverse health, social and economic consequences of the use of legal and illegal psychoactive drugs without necessarily reducing drug consumption.Harm reduction benefits people who use drugs, their families and the community.
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Guidance on Provider-initiated Voluntary Medical Examination, Testing and Counselling for Infectious Diseases in Injecting Drug Users

This document addresses basic operational guidance on provider-initiated medical examination, testing and counselling with regard to infectious diseases in injecting drug users (IDUs). This is accompanied by a recommended package of prevention and primary care in relation to injecting drug users and infections. ( EMCDDA)

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Working with active drug users

Harm Reduction Coalition Bulletin

The lack of formal training and the minimal attention paid to substance use often contributes to misunderstandings, negative attitudes and stigmatization of drug use and drug users. The stigmatized nature of illicit drug use is in no way limited to the medical profession; negative perceptions of drug users are quite prevalent in the general population and have serious consequences for drug user health and medical services.

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Development of a Parents’ Resource Manual Booklet: Litrerature review

Purpose of the Literature Review:
To conduct a comprehensive review of international and national research and literature in order to:
· Identify and document best practice with regard to primary and secondary prevention of
substance use (completed in part 1)
· Identify and document the range and levels of current programmes, strategies, interventions and
resources available for parents in this regard (completed in part 2)

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Effective Services for Substance Misuse and Homelessness in Scotland: Evidence from an International Review

A Rapid Evidence Assessment of international literature on effective substance misuse services for homeless people was conducted to review best practice in other countries and determine if there were any lessons for Scotland. The review found that:

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Partnership Announcement

We would also like to take this opportunity to advise that the INEF will be working more closely with the NNEF  National Needle Exchange Forum for England, the Scottish Drugs Forum and the  WNEF  All Wales Needle Exchange  in relation to opportunities for lobbying and identifying best practice

Peer-based Addiction Recovery Support

The sixth effort in our monograph series designed to explore in depth the theoretical and practical aspects of peer-based addiction recovery support services and recovery-oriented systems of care. This monograph can be used as a tool kit to guide the design and delivery of peer-based support services in the context of Recovery Oriented Systems of Care. Included in this work are cautions, questions of ethics, and areas for further exploration. It also provides reassurance and validation that the hard work and careful planning required to implement peer-based and peer-delivered services can pay off in remarkable ways. Sometimes the simplest gesture of kindness and support at the right time by a peer produces tremendous positive change.

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Estimating incidence trends in regular heroin use in 26 regions of Switzerland using methadone treatment data

A lack of information about trends in the incidence of regular heroin use hinders  effective drug policy and public health action. Yet incidence trends are still unknown  almost everywhere in the world. Various estimation methods have been developed to  estimate the incidence of heroin use. However they have requirements, like  long-term treatment data or reliable drug mortality statistics, which are rarely available.  The paper concludes It has been demonstrated that even with incomplete data the GIF method allows to  calculate accurate regional incidence trends.

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