70% of overdose deaths in Catalonia occur in the same home. The figure, which amounts to 159 people in 2021, has been released this Thursday, when International Overdose Awareness Day is commemorated.
The 2021 figure has been going down since the Ministry of Health began registering this indicator in 2017. Then there were 200 people who lost their lives due to an overdose. In 2020 there were already 182.
Salut highlights the importance of education in prevention and care for people who live with a person who uses drugs to act quickly in the event of an overdose. The victims are mainly male with an average age of 44 years.
In most cases, people had used several substances at the same time, including cocaine, opioids, hypnosedatives and alcohol as the most frequent. In the event of an overdose, it is necessary to put the person in a lateral position and quickly call 112.
Since 2009, the General Subdirectorate for Addictions, HIV, STIs and Viral Hepatitis coordinates the Overdose Prevention Program, implemented in drug addiction care and follow-up centers (CAS), harm reduction services, consumption rooms supervised drug and therapeutic communities.
Currently, Catalonia has 15 supervised consumption rooms that serve nearly 2,500 people each year with more than 100,000 consumptions. None of the overdoses that occur in these spaces end in death, which shows that it is preventable if action is taken in time.
In the case of opioids, the administration of naloxone as an antidote to combat overdoses and the training of users in the use of this drug are decisive in preventing overdose deaths. From the beginning of the program (2009) to the year 2022, in Catalonia 14,551 people have been trained as active agents for the identification and care of overdose with naloxone and a total of 15,914 vials have been distributed.
