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Naloxone
John Strang, Professor in Addiction Research and Director of the National Addiction Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, London

Abstract
Heroin dependence carries a death toll extremely disproportionate to its incidence and was the number one cause of drug-related death in the UK, according to data collected over a five-year period. Prior provision of overdose training, alongside supply of take-home emergency naloxone, could save many of these lives. Many patients have witnessed an overdose, and/or experienced overdose themselves, and the needs and intervention opportunity through families appears to have been completely overlooked.

Such data views injecting drug users, their families and friends in a new way: as "a highly motivated but highly overlooked intervention force". This revelation has underpinned a new study of an unprecedented scale: to provide naloxone and overdose management training to people to be released from prison, following a subject pilot. The study will test the hypothesis from earlier research that witnessed overdose fatalities might be prevented by administration of home-based supplies of naloxone. Data shows that, of the heroin injectors who have witnessed an overdose, a high percentage of these cases were of close friends and partners. Interviews with heroin users in many cities now confirm a high drug overdose rate and that 80% had been present at the overdose of another user.

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Biography
Professor John Strang (MBBS, FRCPsych, MD, FRCP, FAChAM)

Professor Strang is Director of the National Addiction Centre (NAC) where he is both University Director of the teaching and research activity of the Addiction Research Unit at the Institute of Psychiatry
(since 1994) and is also Clinical Director of the Addictions clinical services (since 1986) providing treatment for people with drug or alcohol problems across South London and more widely. He is one of only six addictions researchers outside North America to be identified by ISI (the Institute for Scientific Analysis) as a "Highly Cited Author" - publicly available at www.ISIhighlycited.com - and he is the only one in Europe who is also a clinician. He recently chaired the NICE Guideline Development Group on 'Psychosocial Aspects of Treatment of Drug Dependence and Misuse' (2005-7), and the Working Group for the 4 national Health Departments preparing the 'Clinical Guidelines for the Management of Drug Dependence and Misuse' (Orange Guidelines) (2006-7).