Number of naloxone kits issued up by 10%

The number of naloxone kits issued in Scotland to help cut drug-related deaths has risen by 10 per cent in the past year, official statistics have revealed.

Heroin users and their families have been issued with the kits by health professionals as part of a pioneering programme backed by the Scottish Government.

Figures released by Holyrood’s Information Services Division show a total of 8,146 take-home naloxone kits were issued over 201516 – up 10 per cent on the previous 12 months.

Scotland was the first country in the world to announce it was setting up such a scheme in November 2010, with thousands of naloxone kits distributed since then.

The drug can save comatose heroin addicts with a single injection, with the special kits given to the family, friends or carers of addicts, as long as consent is given by the person who is deemed to be at risk.

It is estimated to have saved the lives of 27,000 opiate addicts in the United States since 1996, according to a report by CNN.

The naloxone programme is being expanded as deaths from drugs in Scotland continue to rise, with more prisoners about to be released from jail given the kits.

Figures released in August found 706 people died from drug-related incidents in 2015 – 69 per cent of whom were male. The total was more than double the figure for 2005 when 336 people died.