Supervised Injection Facilities to Help In Reducing Overdose Deaths

A new commentary was published in one of the journals called Annals of Internal Medicine. The authors spoke very strongly about the use of supervised injection facilities (SIFs). According to them, SIFs have the ability to help people who are addicted to drugs. Their findings are also able to support their statement.

Supervised injection facilities provide a very hygienic environment along with injecting equipment for the administration of drugs that are medically supervised injections obtained off-site. Such facilities are also known to offer education to people regarding reducing the harms caused by drugs. They provide counselling, therapeutic treatments for substance-use disorders, primary health care services, and access to a life-saving drug called naloxone.

More than 100 supervised injection facilities in 11 different countries all over Australia, North America, and Europe were studied for a period of 10 years. More than 100 peer-reviewed studies have been able to show compelling positive evidence on the correlation between supervised injection facilities and reduced overdose, reduced mortality, and increase in the frequency of safe injection behaviours along with the access to necessary treatment for action. Along with these results, the research could also show that supervised injection facilities do not have a role to play in increasing public disorder, attracting drug-related crime to any specific area, or increasing relapse rates.

If the evidence show that supervised injection facilities is able to help people with addiction, it is important to implement in every country for the betterment of the society. Every year, several people die due to drug overdose and suffer several other consequences related to drug abuse and drug dependence. These people hardly seek care and guidance. Most people think that there is no hope for addicts. The authors of this commentary aim to break this myth by allowing drug addicts a chance to live better and healthy lives.

Supervised injection facilities are thought to be able to do that with its extensive facilities and services. As therapy and counselling is extremely important in drug-related disorders, supervised injection facilities also aim to provide these services to addicts. Many of these people do not have access to the basic health care services and SIFs are trying to bridge the gap by providing the primary health care services. Proper diet also has a role to play in better living; and supervised injection facilities are known to provide adequate education for the same.

With such a goal in the mind authors of the commentary have suggested that the United States of America needs to pilot the application of supervised injection facilities in a multi-prolonged approach for the purpose of reducing the amount of deaths people suffer from opioid overdose in the country. Piloting supervised injection facilities will let the researchers analyse the effect these facilities have in mitigating deaths related to overdose in despairing communities. These facilities are used as an additional strategy for connecting people who are prey to opioid addiction with treatment facilities. This is a new ray of hope for the disadvantaged communities in the United States.