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Naloxone is now widely carried by first responders and police. Distribution efforts have also helped make the medication available to community partners.
Naloxone has quickly become a central part of harm reduction efforts nationally and within North Carolina.
The medication comes in two main forms: an injection and nasal spray. Both work to save lives by reversing the effects of an opioid overdose.
Naloxone is now widely carried by first responders and police. Distribution efforts have also helped make the medication available to community partners.
โHarm reduction is the first line of defense we have. It is the on the ground, in the community response. It is by people with lived experience for people with lived experience,โ shared Elyse Powell, executive director of the North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition.
Efforts to bring naloxone into school systems are also expanding, including in Wake County Schools. School officials tell WRAL News training efforts are underway to prepare for the distribution of the medication to schools this year.
Thursday, the NCHRC hosted an event at the Oberlin Regional Library bringing together national, state and local health officials to package opioid overdose rescue kits ahead of Overdose Awareness Day on Aug. 31.
CDC Director Dr. Mandy Cohen attended the event while in North Carolina this week. She explained efforts like these are urgently needed as opioid overdoses continue to impact families across the state.
โWe should not be losing anyone to overdose. We know what to do, we just need partners every day to keep doing the work,โ said Cohen.
The CDC director explained the kits packaged Thursday contained vials of naloxone, sealed syringes and administration instructions.
โWe want folks to use Narcan or Naloxone. The nasal is obviously easier, and the shot is one that gets into your system more effectively,โ said Cohen. โThe important part is to have it on hand and know how to use it.โ
Powell told WRAL News the kits will be distributed through the NCHRCโs seven existing syringe service programs statewide. The goal is to get the medication directly into the hands of those known to use opioids.
Cohen further emphasized the need for continued harm reduction efforts saying addiction needed to be thought about and treated as a disease.
โJust like diabetes, we have medicine for that, we have medicines to treat addiction,โ shared Cohen.
North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein also attended Thursdayโs event to help package the overdose rescue kits.
He told WRAL News combating the opioid crisis requires a team effort.
โWhat we want to do is save lives. We want people to live healthy, happy lives,โ he shared. โTo solve a problem like that, it requires partnership from the local government: we have Wake County here, the state: we have state representatives here including me, the federal government: CDC director Dr. Mandy Cohen is here, and our nonprofit partners like the NCHRC.โ
Cohen agreed adding, โThat is what North Carolina is doing so well – bringing communities together, bringing folks together to solve this hard problem.โ
The CDC director shared nationally, recent stats have pointed to some positive news.
โNationally, weโre making progress. For the first time last year, we saw the first decrease in overdose deaths,โ Cohen said.
The CDC director further elaborated more work needs to be done as 100,000 Americans are still dying annually from overdoses.
Cohen and Stein both expressed the biggest contributing factor to the rise in overdose deaths over the years is fentanyl.
โWe actually have the same amount of overdoses, but theyโre just becoming more deadly,โ noted Cohen. โIt only takes one time for you to take something that you donโt know fentanyl is in there, for it to take your life.โ
Stein shared he recently spoke with a family just this week who lost a loved one to an overdose.
โIt is absolutely devastating. We have to do everything we can to tackle the fentanyl crisis,โ added Stein. โThat means reducing demand by reducing the people who need drugs, but it also means reducing supply, stopping fentanyl from coming at the border and breaking up the drug trafficking rings that operate here in North Carolina.โ
Powell added the allocation of over $1 billion in opioid settlement funding to organizations throughout the state will hopefully help other grassroots efforts grow.
โThe data is looking like so far in North Carolina, weโre on track to see a reduction in overdoses this year. That is because of the historic investment weโve made in harm reduction,โ shared Powell.
She continued, โI think itโs really critical as we look to further invest these dollars to make sure weโre both prioritizing the things we know work: harm reduction, naloxone distribution, evidence-based treatment, and weโre making sure weโre bringing in the voices of the people this epidemic has impacted the most.โ
The NCHRC leader shared those with lived experiences should have a voice in how opioid settlement funding is used within communities.