WEDNESDAY, Dec. 22, 2021 (HealthDay News) — At least 59 overdoses were prevented in the first three weeks that two overdose prevention centers have been open in New York City, the city’s health department said Tuesday.
During that time, there were more than 2,000 visits to the centers that are operated by OnPoint NYC and are the first publicly recognized overdose prevention sites to open in the United States. The city first announced the program on Dec. 1.
The centers — also known as safe injection sites — are located in Washington Heights and East Harlem.
“These data are promising and show how overdose prevention centers will reduce needless suffering and avoidable death,” City Health Commissioner Dr. Dave Chokshi said in an agency news release. “The simple truth is that overdose prevention centers save lives — the lives of our neighbors, family and loved ones. Thank you to OnPoint NYC for launching this vital new service to keep New Yorkers healthy.”
The centers provide supervised, clean spaces for people who use drugs to do so safely, and can connect them with services such as harm reduction, medical care, mental health therapy, drug treatment and social supports.
“We are meeting people who use drugs where they are in their life journey, to support them in building their self-worth,” said Sam Rivera, executive director of OnPoint NYC.
“The early data demonstrates the [centers] are reaching exactly who they’re meant for, and they’re already working. We are courageous enough to work with people who use drugs at their most vulnerable state while they are actively using drugs, with the belief and proof that they can come out of that when they are ready. We are honored to be doing this important work and look forward to more [overdose prevention centers] opening up around the country soon,” Rivera added.
There were more than 90,000 overdose deaths in the United States in 2020, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 2,000 of those deaths were in New York City, according to city officials.
As the U.S. opioid crisis has worsened in recent years, cities and states nationwide have pushed for overdose prevention sites.
Safe injection site programs in Australia, Europe and Canada have already reduced drug overdose deaths in those locations.
More information
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on overdose prevention.
SOURCE: New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, news release, Dec. 21, 2021
This article originally ran on consumer.healthday.com.
Central Virginian readers have spoken.
What in the world is more fun than a Christmas parade? Well, dear readers, I’m here to tell you that the answer is TWO Christmas parades, on the very same Saturday! I saw the first parade at noon in beautiful downtown Louisa, and the second at 5 p.m. in Spring Creek at Zion Crossroads. Want to know more? Read on! Read more
Dear readers, this Thanksgiving I was grateful to pull my hiking boots out of the closet and put them on. Sounds a bit strange, you say? Well, in the immortal words of Paul Harvey, here’s “the rest of the story.” Read more
Most of the leaves have fallen, the sun angle is low and with recent fronts coming through mostly dry and often overnight, passive solar heating season has fully arrived at my house. My south-facing wall, mostly glass, allows the sun to shine deep into the house, quickly removing any early morning chill. Being retired makes it easier to sleep in, and wait for the house to warm. Read more
For some months now we’ve been told to Christmas-shop even earlier than usual, as all those container ships are wandering about the near Pacific waiting to magically unload our gifts into those driverless big rigs parked in some unknown distant lot, for without those gifts Big Business says our holidays will be bleak and joyless. Children hear and weep, grownups grow restless and look at each other in uneasy guilt. A tradition is broken, a crucial rite unobserved. A great sense of self-reproach lies deep in the heart of the land. We must buy Stuff for Christmas. Read more
A few months ago I began learning how to play mahjong. My goodness, what a game! Both challenging and fun, and I want to tell you all about it. Read more
Due to Covid, my mother, sisters and I hadn’t seen each other in over two years. That is a looooooong time! So recently we all converged at Mom’s house for several days. We had a lot of time to make up! Fun question: How do you celebrate four holidays in less than a week? Well dear readers, I’m here to tell you all about it. Buckle your seatbelts for a wild and fun ride! Read more
About two generations back, nearly every male would be looking forward to Opening Day in November. The primary hunting season ran from late that month to late January, and the opening and closing days might as well have been school holidays, so many fellows were “sick.” Read more
About two generations back, nearly every male would be looking forward to Opening Day in November. The primary hunting season ran from late that month to late January, and the opening and closing days might as well have been school holidays, so many fellows were “sick.” Read more
After the instant relief delivered by last week’s cold front and the first day of fall actually feeling like fall, I’d almost forgotten that Earth has just experienced another sweltering, record-smashing summer and how long it had been since any northern air had made it this far south – very early August. Read more
Recently I visited Bracketts Farm in the Green Springs National Landmark District. It’s located just north of Zion Crossroads, off of Route 15. They were having an “open farm” day, so we loaded up a couple of cars with some friends and off we went. And let me tell you, dear readers, we had an awesome visit! Read more
