Community overdose responses- 'Lessons from Canada'

Date: Friday 9th March, 1.30-4.30pm
Location: Scottish Youth Theatre, 105 Brunswick Street, Glasgow, G1 1TF

A free event for people committed to reducing drug-related deaths.

The purpose of the event will be to look to expand on innovative methods preventing fatal overdose and other drug-related harms currently being employed in Scotland, and also learn from the work of colleagues in Canada.

In April 2016, the Public Health Officer for British Columbia, Canada, declared a public health emergency. This was in response to the number of drug-related deaths which had been rising steadily since 2012.

In 2016, there was an 80% increase in the number of deaths that occurred in 2015. The number of overdose deaths continues to rise monthly in 2017, with overdose now being a leading cause of death in the province. Although the rise in deaths has been over a longer term and is less dramatic than in Canada – in Scotland we face similar issues.

The Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research has recently published a Public Health toolkit guide to developing a community overdose response plan. The purpose of the guide is to outline four key elements of a public health overdose response and suggest a process for implementing a community overdose response plan.