Scottish Government

Following recommendations from two independent expert forums, and the successful outcomes of a number of local take home naloxone pilots, the Scottish Government is supporting the roll out of the National Naloxone Programme.

Naloxone is an opiate antidote which can temporarily reverse the effects of an opiate overdose, providing more time for an ambulance to arrive and treatment to be given.

Under this national programme, naloxone will be provided to those deemed to be at risk of opiate overdose, once they have undergone training. This training will also be available to their family, friends, carers, partners etc.

The Scottish Government is supporting the roll out of this programme with central resources which include:

• Specific support to the Scottish Prison Service, in recognition of the increased risk of overdose following release from custody;
• A national naloxone training resource to support the development of local take home naloxone programmes.
• National naloxone information materials;
• A national monitoring and evaluation programme to assess the impact of the naloxone programme.