WASHINGTON (AP) — Officials of Washington, D.C., say the city plans to distribute 76,000 kits to help counter area opioid overdoses by the end of September.
The Washington Post reports the distribution would drastically increase the availability of the anti-overdose drug naloxone, as the city distributed only about 2,400 kits during the last nine months of 2017.
Community health organizations and police officers will distribute the kits. The distribution efforts were announced Thursday in Mayor Muriel E. Bowser’s updated plan to address city opioid overdose related deaths.
A December version of the plan was criticized for its lack of details. The new plan offers deadlines, specific actions and measures of success. It says another program allowing recent overdose victims to be treated at certain emergency rooms may be launched by April 30.
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Information from: The Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com
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