Invitation to free event – Community Overdose Responses – Lessons from Canada

SDF, the University of Stirling and the Drug Research Network Scotland are delighted to invite you to a free event in Glasgow, where we will 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. At this event, Dr Bernie Pauly, an Associate Professor in the University of Victoria and one of the guide’s authors, will provide an overview of the toolkit and how it was developed with key stakeholders and, in particular, those with lived and living experience. This will be followed by a round table discussion with a range of stakeholders, including those who are currently engaged in peer-education work, to explore what lessons can be learned for Scotland and what actions we might take in relation to Scottish drug overdose deaths.

SDF, the University of Stirling and the Drug Research Network Scotland are delighted to invite you to a free event in Glasgow, where we will 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. At this event, Dr Bernie Pauly, an Associate Professor in the University of Victoria and one of the guide’s authors, will provide an overview of the toolkit and how it was developed with key stakeholders and, in particular, those with lived and living experience. This will be followed by a round table discussion with a range of stakeholders, including those who are currently engaged in peer-education work, to explore what lessons can be learned for Scotland and what actions we might take in relation to Scottish drug overdose deaths.