Head of Cork charity estimates 20 people have died from overdoses in Cork city in recent months

AN estimated 20 people have died from overdoses in the city in recent months, the head of a Cork charity has said.

She has called for greater availability of a drug which helps to counter the effects of overdose.

Caitríona Twomey, volunteer coordinator of Cork Penny Dinners, said there had been a spate of overdoses recently, some of which have been linked to the arrival in the city late last year of a batch of nitazene-like drugs.

“We’ve lost as many as 20 people that we know of to overdoses in the past few months,” Ms Twomey said.

She called for a greater availability of Naloxone, a drug which reverses the effects of opioid overdoses, taking effect within minutes and helping to keep a person alive until emergency services can arrive.

The drug is currently being offered as part of a needle exchange programme to combat heroin and other opiate deaths in the city.

Ms Twomey said more needed to be done to help save the lives of people who are struggling with addiction.

“In any decent society, the importance of saving a life can never be overstated, it is surely the fundamental principle that reflects our values and sense of compassion.

“We have lost so many people to overdoses in the city over the past few months, and each and every death is a tragedy,” Ms Twomey told The Echo.

“These are real people, people whose lives have innate value and who deserve to be cared for in a compassionate society.”

Precise figures for deaths by overdose are difficult to establish, as coroners’ verdicts may not be known until many months later a death.

However, anecdotal evidence from volunteers such as Ms Twomey suggests an increase in drug-related deaths in recent months.

Ms Twomey called for a greater availability of naloxone, a drug which reverses the effects of opioid overdoses.

The drug is currently being offered as part of a needle exchange programme in Cork, which aims to combat heroin and other opiate deaths in the city.

NALOXONE

Naloxone works by displacing opioid molecules from receptors in the body and brain, and it can help to keep a person alive until an ambulance arrives.

“We had a case very recently where someone had been given a naloxone spray in case he met anyone in trouble, and the very next day he came upon someone who had suffered an overdose,” Ms Twomey said.

“He was able to use the spray on the person and kept him alive until the ambulance could get there.

“That person is alive today.”

The HSE announced late last year that its National Social Inclusion Office would — in collaboration with partner support services — pioneer a new peer programme which would help train drug users to prevent overdoses and help to treat others who have overdosed near them.

Last December, the HSE issued an extreme risk drug warning after a nitazene-type substance had been linked with “recent cases of serious overdose in Cork city”.

Nitazenes were developed in the 1950s as synthetic opioid analgesics and an alternative to morphine. However, because of fears surrounding the potential for overdoses, they were never approved for the medical market.

At the start of the year, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris signed off on plans to equip frontline gardaí with naloxone.

“A life saved not only has a profound impact upon the individual life saved, but also on society as a whole,” Ms Twomey said.

“Saving a life is an act of humanity, and that contributes to the overall health and happiness of all of society.

“The saving of a life is key to creating a compassionate, empathetic society where everyone is valued and nobody is left behind,” she added.