Press Release
To mark International Overdose Awareness Day this Saturday, Merchants Quay Ireland is urgently calling for improved access to quality drug treatment. The addiction and homeless services charity wants to see the provision of lower threshold detox facilities, more rehabilitation spaces and more aftercare services.
Eddie Mullins, CEO at Merchants Quay Ireland says:
“While the opening of the Medically Supervised Injection Facility (MSIF) this year will play a part in saving lives, it is essential to expand the current capacity of detox and rehabilitation spaces in Ireland. The present infrastructure for addiction treatment is simply not sufficient to handle the demand. Increased funding and resources are essential to ensure timely and effective treatment for those in need. We are calling on the government to take immediate action. By expanding detox, rehab and aftercare spaces, we can provide the critical support needed to address this crisis head-on.
We also need to see the provision of stable accommodation for people in recovery. Nobody should be facing homelessness in recovery, especially in the early stages, as this makes an incredibly difficult journey, an impossible one.”
Notes to Editor:
The Health Research Board (HRB) revealed 409 people died from overdose-related deaths in 2020. This is a harrowing reminder that more lives are being lost to overdose than to deaths on our roads.
Orla Condren, Deputy Head of Clinical Services at MQI elaborates:
“Ireland has one of the worst records in Europe for overdose related deaths. Due to the stigma surrounding addiction, these deaths can be seen by some as ‘less important’ which is simply unacceptable. Behind each of the 409 deaths are people, who in many cases desperately sought help for their addiction. There are also devastated mothers and fathers, partners, friends and children who have lost someone they loved. International Overdose Awareness Day is a day to remember those we have lost and to take concrete steps toward preventing further tragedies.”
International Overdose Awareness Day (IOAD) – held on August 31 every year – is the world’s largest annual campaign to end overdose, remember without stigma those who have died and acknowledge the grief of family and friends left behind.
Hrb Report Key Findings
409 deaths were poisonings and 8 in 10 of these deaths involved more than one drug.
- 7 in 10 involved opioids. Methadone was implicated in 3 in 10 poisoning deaths and heroin was implicated in 2 in 10 poisoning cases
- Almost 6 in 10 involved benzodiazepines and many of them had more than one type of benzodiazepine
- 3 in 10 involved cocaine
- 2 in 10 involved alcohol (as part of a poly drug poisoning)
- Almost 6 in 10 involved other prescription drugs, most commonly antidepressants and antiepileptics
- More than 6 in 10 were male
- More than half of men were aged 42 years or younger
- More than half of women were aged 45 years or younger
- Half had a history of mental health issues
- 1 in 8 were homeless
- 1 in 5 had ever injected
- In 4 in 10 of poisoning deaths, the person was alone
- 11% died in homeless accommodation
- 9% died in a public place or building
