Naloxone could save thousands of lives, Salvation Army says
The Salvation Army says thousands of lives could be saved if naloxone, an overdose antidote, were as widely available as first aid kits.
New data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show 5,565 deaths related to drug poisoning in England and Wales in 2024, up from 5,448 the year before.
Deaths involving synthetic opioids such as Nitazenes were four times higher than previous years, while opioids were involved in nearly half of all cases.
In a report titled Naloxone: A Life-Saving Opportunity, the church and charity is calling on the UK Government to declare a public health emergency and make naloxone freely available in public spaces such as transport hubs and shopping centres.
Available as a nasal spray or injection, naloxone can temporarily reverse the effects of opioids, giving emergency services time to respond.
The Salvation Army distributed 447 naloxone kits through its services across the UK last year.
Lee Ball, the organisation’s Director of Addictions, said:
“Our harm reduction approach addresses the causes and consequences of addiction, and together with our use of naloxone, saves lives. Our services in England and Wales have seen a 71% reduction in overdose deaths in the last five years.”
He added:
“Every death from drugs is a tragedy that can and must be prevented. A harmful addiction is not a lifestyle choice or a moral flaw, it is a life-threatening chronic health condition and should be treated as such.”
The Salvation Army estimates that heroin and potent synthetic opioids could kill more than 20,000 people in the UK over the next five years if current trends continue.
Martin Davies, who lives at The Salvation Army’s Ty Gobaith Lifehouse in Cardiff, trains people to use naloxone. He said:“It would be good to see a box containing naloxone placed near defibrillators on streets near shops and pubs as well as bus and train stations. Otherwise, people who could easily be saved with this kit will continue to die.”
In west Wales, Natasha Williams, an Active Treatment Worker for Dyfed Drug and Alcohol Service, runs naloxone training and distribution sessions with The Salvation Army in Carmarthen. She said:
“One of the things that is good about The Salvation Army drop-in is that people can come to get a naloxone kit from us. We do the training with them and issue a kit on the spot.”
The Salvation Army says equipping all frontline workers, including police and emergency services, to carry and use naloxone would prevent many of the deaths currently being recorded each year.
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