NALOXONE AVAILABILITY

Early day motion 445, tabled 30 October 2014 by Mike Wood (Labour). Signed by 32 members.

That this House notes that there were 765 deaths involving heroin or morphine in 2013, a sharp rise of 32 per cent from 579 deaths in 2012; further notes that many of these fatalities could have been prevented by the use of naloxone as an intervention; recognises that naloxone is a safe and effective medicine which can reverse the effects of opioid overdoses; recalls that in May 2012 the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) recommended that naloxone should be made more widely available; is concerned that regulations to give effect to the ACMD recommendations in England are not planned to be implemented until October 2015; further notes that in Scotland and Wales successful pilots have resulted in national programmes to make naloxone widely available but there has been no such development in England; and calls on the Government to prioritise the roll-out of naloxone across the whole of the UK.

Signatures by party: Labour 18, Liberal Democrat 6, Conservative 3, Plaid Cymru 2, Green 1, Independent 1, Social Democratic and Labour Party 1.