HSE to provide heroin users with antidote drug to prevent overdoses

Training sessions are underway with service users, family members and services.

HEROIN USERS ARE to be supplied with an antidote drug called naloxone which provides almost immediate countermeasures.

The project will see around 600 patients receiving naloxone on a prescription to take home.

Those most at risk of overdosing are expected to receive the drug by the middle of next month.

The HSE says training sessions are currently underway with heroin addicts and their family members.

It’s part of the HSE’s Drug and Alcohol Services’s Social Inclusion Operational Plan.

The programme will then be evaluated to assess if the drug is suitable for mainstream distribution.

The HSE says it is in the process of engaging with a consultant to evaluate the programme.

Read: Man sentenced for trying to sell heroin to undercover garda>

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