Original research
by
Nielsen, Suzanne et al
Release Date
2021
Geography
Australia
Language of Resource
English
Full Text Available
No
Open Access / OK to Reproduce
No
Peer Reviewed
Yes
Objective
Although most opioid-related mortality in Australia involves prescription opioids, most research to understand the impact of naloxone supply on opioid-related mortality has focused upon people who inject heroin. We aimed to examine the cost and probable impact of up-scaling naloxone supply to people who are prescribed opioids.
Findings/Key points
In Australia, scaling-up take-home naloxone by 2030 to reach 90% of people prescribed daily doses of ≥ 50 mg of oral morphine equivalents would be cost-effective and save more than 650 lives.
Design/methods
Four scenarios were compared with a baseline scenario (the current status quo): naloxone scale-up between 2020 and 2030 to reach 30 or 90% coverage by 2030, among the subgroups of people prescribed either ≥ 50 or ≥ 100 mg of oral morphine equivalents (OME).
Keywords
Mortality
Harm reduction
Policy/Regulatory
About prescribers
