Preventive interventions for reducing mortality and morbidity among people who inject drugs – effects and experiences of Take-home naloxone within a needle exchange program

Drug-related mortality in Sweden is high and overdoses of opioids (e.g. heroin and morphine) account for the majority of deaths. There is a great need for research on prevention interventions specifically tailored for a Swedish context.

Naloxone, an antidote to opioids, quickly and effectively reverses the negative effects of an opioid overdose, which increases the chance of survival. One such prevention measure is Take-Home Naloxone (THN) programs for people who are at risk of opioid overdose.

The purpose of such programs is that opioid users themselves are able to reverse an acute overdose, as they are often in environments where overdoses occur.In Sweden, it´s possible to prescribe THN to people who are at risk of opioid overdose since 2018.

The Stockholm Needle Exchange Program (NEP) was the first clinic in Sweden to start such a program and has since the start systematically and structurally collected data in connection to overdose training and distribution of THN to over 1200 individuals.

The overall goal of THN programs is to prevent opioid related mortality and morbidity.The aims of the studies in this project are to investigate:to what extent we succeed in reaching people at risk of overdose with THN, participant demographics and how naloxone is used (Study I)the experiences of THN among participants who themselves have been the subject of an overdose and where naloxone was administered by a peer (Study II)overall mortality and change in mortality over time among participants in NEP in order to evaluate how naloxone distribution has affected mortality (Study III)