Resources

The Advisory Council of the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) has reviewed the evidence on the provision and availability of naloxone in the UK, a medicine which can temporarily reverse the effects of opioids and is used as an emergency treatment for people who overdose on these drugs. The findings of this review, and recommendations to optimise the use of naloxone are presented in this report.

Research based on the overdose prevention site which was opened by Peter Krykant in Glasgow in 2020. With no financial or other support from local or national governmental agencies, he acquired a second-hand minibus and equipped it with basic first-aid equipment, needles and sterile equipment, and naloxone. It opened on 31st August 2020 (International Overdose Awareness Day), parked at a single site in Glasgow city centre.

People who inject drugs (PWID) are vulnerable to a wide range of viral and bacterial infections. These infections can result in high levels of illness and in death, so public health surveillance of infectious diseases and the associated risk and protective behaviours among this group are important. This Public Health England publication reports on the extent of infections among people who inject drugs (PWID) in the UK.

This resource aims to help people working within harm reduction and injection equipment provision (IEP) services, and anyone who works with people who inject drugs, to assess injection sites and identify potential complications arising from injecting street drugs.

New good practice guidance on the provision of injecting equipment in Scotland has been published. This is the first such publication in Scotland since the 2010 Guidelines for services providing injecting equipment: Best practice recommendations for commissioners and injecting equipment provision services in Scotland.

The charity Humankind has launched a new minimum standards document for their organisations harm reduction services. The new standards are intended to improve equitable access to needle and syringe provision and reduce the stigma and discrimination faced by people who use substances.

Exchange Supplies and Michael Linnell have produced a collection of posters and a colourful leaflet to promote the use of reduced dead space equipment. Low dead space injecting equipment has less space between the needle and the plunger after injecting.

VIDEO: Low dead space injecting equipment has less space between the needle and the plunger after injecting. Blood and drug remain in this space, so if equipment is shared the risk of spreading blood-borne viruses, such as HIV and hepatitis C, is higher when there’s more blood left in the equipment.

Chemsex briefing from Harm Reduction International. Using substances for sex and socialising is not a new phenomenon. Drug use was documented among gay men and other men who have sex with men long before the term “chemsex” was coined. Chemsex, which has come to the attention of public health professionals in the past decade, involves both sexual and drug-related high risk behaviours such as multiple sexual partners, the use of multiple drugs together, and injecting drug use.

HIV epidemiological reports based on PHE data on HIV testing, diagnosis and care in the UK.