Marie Denis knew there were risks associated with the non-sterile needles she was using at the time, but she didn’t know one of those was infective endocarditis. In fact, she didn’t know what infective endocarditis ...
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Record levels of drug-related deaths have led Scotland to introduce a world-first naloxone prisoner training program in Scottish prisons, and to also equip prison night staff with naloxone. It’s an initiative that has attracted attention ...
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From hearts in the sand, to memorial trees, naloxone training, soccer matches and cupcakes, the creativity of people marking International Overdose Awareness Day (IOAD)– the global day of action to end overdose – is boundless.
Hearts ...
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European Drug Report 2019
This EMCDDA report covers the questions: What are the latest drug trafficking trends in Europe and what lies behind them? What substances are causing the most harm in Europe today? What’s new ...
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Pregabalin has quickly earned an enviable reputation as a major breakthrough in the treatment of pain, but one with a potential dark side.
When the drug, known by its brand name Lyrica, was subsidised on the ...
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Three Australians die every day from opioid overdose. Many of these deaths could be prevented by a drug called naloxone.
Naloxone, sometimes known by its brand name Narcan, is a medicine that temporarily reverses the effects ...
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Tammy Waters and Mitch (Michele) Segal work together at Directions Health Services in the ACT. Tammy is the NSP Training and Stock Coordinator while Mitch is the Client Services Coordinator, Needle and Syringe Program.
Tammy Waters, ...
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What is naloxone?
Naloxone is a medicine that temporarily reverses the effects of opioids like morphine, codeine and heroin. Opioids depress the respiratory system, so overdosing on them is very dangerous. Administering naloxone can restore the ...
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Health, rights and drugs: Harm reduction, decriminalization and zero discrimination for people who use drugs
UNAIDS
As a new chapter in the response to the world drug problem begins, UNAIDS is calling on countries to adopt the ...
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Gum and dental disease are the most common diseases in the world and are especially prevalent among people who use drugs.
Manager of the oral health service at North Richmond Community Health, which hosts one of ...
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Maintaining confidentiality, anonymity and trust is not only good practice, it’s vital to delivering a quality NSP service.
Clean needle program (CNP) worker Sue Brownbill, who works as a Hepatitis SA peer educator at Anglicare Elizabeth ...
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Called pharmacotherapy by frontline workers and ‘The Done’ and ‘subbies’ by people who inject drugs – knowing about Medication Assisted Treatment for Opioid Dependence (MATOD) is an important skill in the NSP worker’s toolkit.
Pharmacist Lachlan ...
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Eliminating hepatitis C in Australia is now a real possibility, thanks to new direct-acting antiviral (DAA) drugs and the removal of two significant barriers to treatment according to Penington Institute Deputy CEO Dr Stephen McNally.
At ...
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The cost of pain in Australia
Deloitte Access Economics for Pain Australia
This report establishes the local and Australia wide socioeconomic impact of pain, and includes a cost effectiveness analysis of health interventions that could reduce the ...
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Free take-home naloxone and new training initiatives in Victoria are offering those most likely to witness an overdose the power to reverse it.
The Proactive Overdose Response Initiative (PORI) operated by Melbourne’s Youth Projects networks with ...
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The Commonwealth Minister for Health the Hon Greg Hunt recently announced a major funding boost for alcohol and other drugs treatment and related initiatives. The package will provide $268 million for rehabilitation, research and other ...
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The controversial debate on pill testing has been reignited following recent deaths due to drug overdose at music festivals.
Some festival organisers have championed the idea of pill testing and they have the support of drug ...
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NSW Coroner’s report into opioid deaths calls for drugs policy rethink
This report is the decision of Deputy State Coroner Harriet Grahame released on 1 March 2019 relating to the Inquest into the deaths of DB, ...
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Left to right: Penington Institute CEO John Ryan, Pain Australia CEO Carol Bennett and Dr James Petty from Penington Institute. Photo thanks to Pain Australia.
Australia urgently needs new solutions to help counter the growing number ...
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A common misconception about people who use steroids is that they all want to have enormous muscles.
“It’s not always about being huge,” says social researcher Dr Mair Underwood from the University of Queensland. “Most men ...
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Injecting-related injury and disease part 1
Injecting drug use is associated with a range of health problems. The ones we’re most familiar with are overdose and viral diseases like hepatitis C and HIV. However, there are ...
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Injecting-related injury and disease part 2
Frontline workers such as those in Needle and Syringe Programs play a critical role in reducing the harms associated with injecting-related injuries and disease (IRID). It can, however, be hard ...
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The lowdown on new psychoactive substances
Today’s digital era presents an abundance of novel and exciting thrills, but for people who use drugs, new technologies in the form of illicit substances are fraught with inherent risk.
New ...
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When painkilling drugs featuring codeine were pulled from the shelves of pharmacies across Australia in February 2018, the debate was fierce (as outlined in volume 15 edition 1 of the Anex Bulletin).
Associate Professor Suzanne Nielsen
“There ...
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There is a well-established relationship between substance use and complex trauma, which usually arises from traumatic events that occurred in childhood or over a long period of time. As Canadian addiction expert Dr Gabor Maté ...
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