Publications by authors named "Kirsten Horsburgh"

Introduction: Opioid overdose education and naloxone distribution (OEND) is an evidence-based strategy to reduce opioid overdose deaths in line with guidance provided by the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). However, OEND effectiveness has rarely been examined in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The WHO/UNODC Stop Overdose Safely (S-O-S) project involved training of > 14,000 potential opioid overdose witnesses in opioid overdose response (including the administration of naloxone) in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Ukraine.

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Background And Aims: Drug-related deaths in Scotland more than doubled between 2011 and 2020. To inform policymakers and understand drivers of this increase, we estimated the number of people with opioid dependence aged 15-64 from 2014/15 to 2019/20.

Design: We fitted a Bayesian multi-parameter estimation of prevalence (MPEP) model, using adverse event rates to estimate prevalence of opioid dependence jointly from Opioid Agonist Therapy (OAT), opioid-related mortality and hospital admissions data.

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Background: Worldwide, opioid use causes more than 100,000 overdose deaths annually. Naloxone has proven efficacy in reversing opioid overdoses and is approved as an emergency antidote to opioid overdose. Take home naloxone (THN) programmes have been introduced to provide 'community members', who are likely to observe opioid overdoses, with naloxone kits and train them to recognise an overdose and administer naloxone.

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Article Synopsis
  • In March 2020, COVID-19 triggered lockdowns across Europe, forcing drug services to adapt quickly to new operational procedures, particularly affecting take-home naloxone (THN) programs aimed at preventing overdoses.
  • Between November 2020 and January 2021, experts from 14 European countries evaluated the impact of COVID-19 on THN distribution, revealing that many countries maintained or improved THN availability despite reduced service capacity.
  • The findings show that innovative program adaptations, supported by government recommendations, helped sustain THN provision during the pandemic, even amid restrictions on in-person services.
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Launched in 2011, the Scottish national naloxone program marked an important development in public health policy. Central to its design were strategies to engage prisoners given their elevated risk of drug-related death in the weeks following liberation. Implementation across Scottish prisons has posed particular challenges linked to both operational issues within prison establishments and individual factors affecting staff delivering, and prisoners engaging, with the program.

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