Harm Reduction

Synonyms
Syringe services
syringe exchange
needle exchange
overdose prevention
naloxone
Narcan
meeting people where they are at

Enhancing Harm Reduction Services in Health Departments: Fentanyl Test Strips and Other Drug Checking Equipment Educational Brief

With the proliferation of fentanyl and other adulterants in the national illicit drug supply, people who use drugs (PWUD) are at greater risk of overdose. Among more than 107,000 drug overdose deaths that occurred between July 2021–June 2022, 64% involved synthetic opioids like fentanyl. Lowering the high rates of overdose among PWUD is possible, as evidence-based practices exist to prevent and respond to overdose, including fentanyl test strips and advanced drug checking equipment. To inform health departments’ harm reduction programming, the National Council for Mental Wellbeing – with support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – developed Enhancing Harm Reduction Services in Health Departments: Fentanyl Test Strips and Other Drug Checking Equipment, an educational brief grounded by real-world experience. 
Posted Date
04/28/23

Maintaining Connection: Strategies to Manage a Virtual Harm Reduction Workplace

The guide from the National Council for Mental Wellbeing aims to support harm reduction organizations operating in virtual environments and summarizes some of the strategies that harm reduction organizations have developed and found to be effective at maintaining connection while doing harm reduction work virtually. Harm reduction continued during the COVID-19 pandemic and organizations effectively changed the way services were delivered, primarily through telework. 
Posted Date
04/04/23

Xylazine: What Clinicians Need to Know

Xylazine is a non-opioid that is approved for animals, and not FDA-approved for humans. New York State's Department of Health provides information on what it is, sources and trends, effects, why people use it, why clinicians should be concerned, and other information on Xylazine. Information about Xylazine is important to understand now that it has been showing up in illicit drug supply.
Posted Date
03/14/23

Emergency Department-based Opioid Harm Reduction: Moving Physicians From Willing to Doing

This study's objective was to develop and validate a survey tool to assess emergency department physician attitudes, clinical practice, and willingness to perform opiate harm reduction interventions. After surveying physicians, most showed they were willing to provide necessary interventions, while few do perform them. Although there was an increased willingness to perform the interventions, a disparity remains. 
Posted Date
02/28/23

One Year After Releasing its Groundbreaking Overdose Prevention Strategy, HHS Announces New Data Showing Nation Has Expanded its Ability to Treat Addiction and Save Lives

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the progress made since the release of the Overdose Prevention Strategy (Strategy) last fall. The new data shows treatment capacity, lives saved from overdose, and commitments to long-term recovery supports, as well as a hopeful trend of a decrease in overdose deaths.
Posted Date
12/13/22

CDC Updates Guidelines for Prescribing Opioids

In their new 2022 Clinical Practice Guideline, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides updated evidence and research on the risks and benefits of prescription opioids for acute, subacute, and chronic pain.  These include dosing strategies, tapering and discontinuation, comparisons with nonopioid pain treatments, and risk mitigation strategies. 
Posted Date
11/14/22

Centering Health: Models for Integrated Harm Reduction Services

The webinar held by NASTAD on October 26, 2022, 4:00-5:30pm featured a dynamic discussion on integrating harm reduction principles and practices, including naloxone distribution, safe disposal, and harm reduction supply access, within the community health care setting. Health centers across the country that offer these services as part of comprehensive care shared their experiences and the ways that service expansion can contribute to engagement and care access.
Posted Date
11/01/22

Notes from the Field: Nitazene-Related Deaths — Tennessee, 2019–2021

Nitazenes are a novel group of powerful illicit synthetic opioids derived from 2-benzylbenzimidazole that have been linked to overdose deaths in several states. Nitazenes were created as a potential pain reliever medication nearly 60 years ago but have never been approved for use in the United States. Laboratory test results indicate that the potency of certain nitazene analogs (e.g., isotonitazene, protonitazene, and etonitazene) greatly exceeds that of fentanyl, whereas the potency of the analog metonitazene is similar to fentanyl.
Posted Date
10/03/22

Trends in Out-of-Pocket Costs for Naloxone by Drug Brand and Payer in the US, 2010-2018

This observational study of 719 612 pharmacy claims data shows that OOP costs of naloxone grew substantially beginning in 2016. However, OOP costs did not increase for all patients and all brands of naloxone but primarily for uninsured patients and for the Evzio brand. The findings suggest that the OOP cost of naloxone has been an increasingly substantial barrier to naloxone access for uninsured patients, a population that constitutes nearly one-fifth of adults with opioid use disorder.
Posted Date
08/23/22

Association of Methamphetamine and Opioid Use With Nonfatal Overdose in Rural Communities

In this cross-sectional, multistate study of rural communities, 79% of people using drugs reported past-30-day methamphetamine use; nonfatal overdose was greatest in people using both methamphetamine and opioids (22%) vs opioids alone (14%), or methamphetamine alone (6%). People using both substances reported the least access to treatment; only 17% of those using methamphetamine alone had naloxone.
Posted Date
08/23/22