69,000 people die of opiate overdoses each year, recalls the WHO. It recommends that each country expand access to Naxolone, a drug capable of preventing overdose deaths.
Heroin, morphine. Opioid overdoses are responsible for 69,000 deaths per year, according to a latest report from the World Health Organization (WHO). It is the second most common cause of death among people who inject drugs after HIV. To reduce this number, WHO recommends that countries expand access to naxolone.
Stop the overdose
Naxolone is a particle of Narcan, the main receptor of morphine. Administered by injection or by the nasal route, it can deflect the trajectory of opiates from their receptors and in a few minutes stop the respiratory depression, which occurs during overdose. Without psychoactive effect, naxolone has been used for over 40 years by emergency physicians to resuscitate overdose victims.
Today, the WHO recommends extending the prescription of naxolone, in particular to “witnesses”, that is to say to relatives of drug addicts. (family, friends, partner) “Anyone who takes first aid training should also learn to recognize an opioid-induced toxic coma and be able to administer naloxone. This drug should not be seen as an alternative to medical care but as an emergency interim response that can potentially save lives, ”the WHO said in a statement.
Initiation programs in Europe
In the United States, the use of this drug has saved 10,171 patients in the space of 4 years. In Europe, naxolone administration initiation programs were launched in 1995 in Germany, the United Kingdom and Italy. But France is still lagging behind. Indeed, only emergency physicians and hospital doctors are authorized to prescribe it.
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