Milestone: 10,000 naloxone orders filled through Pa. program
Washington County Drug and Alcohol Commission offered Narcan kits in an effort to reduce opioid-related overdose deaths at a recent recovery fair in the city of Washington.
Narcan is a medication that reverses the effects of opioid overdose. It is available for people to order, at no cost, from the state. Pictured in this file photo are kits available through the Washington County Drug and Alcohol Commission that were on display at a recovery fair in August hosted by Harmony Life Center. (Photo by Karen Mansfield)
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The Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs, Department of Health, and Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency recently announced a milestone, filling 10,000 orders of naloxone through a mail-based naloxone program.
鈥淣aloxone is a life-saving, overdose reversal medication, and access to it is absolutely critical,鈥� said DDAP Secretary Jen Smith. 鈥淎cross the commonwealth, local and state partners in the drug and alcohol field are working each day to keep fellow Pennsylvanians alive and decrease the chances of folks suffering a fatal overdose, and the Wolf administration is grateful for our partners in this effort who help to make naloxone more readily available every day.鈥�
A coalition between the Wolf administration, Prevention Point Pittsburgh, and NEXT Distro for Pennsylvania, the program was launched in 2020 and allows residents to request and receive naloxone for free in the mail.
To qualify for mail-based distribution, applicants must view a short training video, create an account on TRAIN PA, answer a few confidential questions, and provide mailing information.
According to data from the coalition, the program has significantly increased access to naloxone for people who need it, and more than 75% of people who received naloxone by mail said it was the first time they had obtained the medication.
Naloxone is a medicine that reverses an opioid overdose by restoring breathing if a person蘑菇视频 breathing has slowed or stopped because of an opioid overdose.
In Pennsylvania, overdose deaths rose by 16.4% in 2020, and continued rising to 5,438 reported overdose deaths in 2021, another 6% increase from the previous year.
Pennsylvania has the fourth highest rate of overdose in the country.
Overdose deaths have been driven by the increase of the synthetic opioid fentanyl, which is cut into drugs like heroin and cocaine.
To learn more about how to get naloxone, visit pa.gov/opioids.