International Overdose Awareness Day (IOAD) has humble beginnings. It was founded by one person, Sally J. Finn, and occurred at one location, the Salvation Army in St. Kilda, in Melbourne, Australia. In 2012, the non-profit public health organization the Pennington Institute stepped in and took over sponsorship of the event, which has grown in size, scope, and impact every year.
Here are the overall goals of International IOAD:
- Raise awareness about the ongoing overdose crisis worldwide
- Increase knowledge of the risk of overdose, including signs to watch for
- Reduce stigma associated with drug use, addiction, and addiction treatment
- Give friends, family, and loved ones the opportunity to honor and mourn those lost to overdose in open and accepting environment, free of shame and stigma
- Share information about fatal and nonfatal overdose
- Ensure people who use drugs with risk of overdose that they’re valued, and we haven’t forgotten them
- Encourage discussion and advocacy around overdose prevention and policies related to drug overdose and treatment for substance use disorder (SUD), with a focus on opioid use disorder (OUD).
- Increase awareness of all available support services, including treatment, prevention, and harm reduction services
- Advocate for increased funding for research and public policies for evidence-based approaches to overdose treatment and prevention.
Those goals remain constant from year to year. In addition, the organizers of IOAD choose a theme for each year. Here’s the theme for 2024:
“Together we can”
If you share content online for IOAD 2024, use these hashtags:
#TogetherWeCan #IOAD2024 #EndOverdose
The organizers seek a transformation from a world where overdose is generally misunderstood to a world where:
- Public policy makers understand overdose is a worldwide health crisis that affects everyone.
- Community leaders understand overdose awareness overdose and prevention are a serious health issue that affects everyone in their community
- People who use drugs, are at risk of overdose, or have a history of overdose understand they’re valued and supported
Before we discuss what’s happening this year for International Overdose Awareness Day – and how we can all join in the awareness and advocacy effort – we’ll review the basic facts about the ongoing overdose crisis, and report on the successes of IOAD 2023.
The Overdose Crisis in the U.S.: Where Are We Now?
It’s important to remember that almost all drugs of misuse and disordered use carry a risk of overdose, but the drugs that have the highest risk of overdose include:
- Opioids and synthetic opioids, including heroin, morphine, fentanyl, hydrocodone, and oxycodone.
- Risk increases when combined with other drugs, especially alcohol
- Benzodiazepines, including Xanax, Valium, and Klonopin
- Risk increases when combined with other drugs, especially opioids and alcohol
- Stimulants, including cocaine and methamphetamine
- Risk increases when combined with other drugs, especially opioids, alcohol, and benzodiazepines
It’s also important to know the signs of opioid overdose, since it’s the riskiest drug and rates of overdose are highest. Here’s what to watch for:
- Loss of consciousness/unresponsive/won’t wake up
- Extremely shallow of slow breathing
- Problems breathing, indicated by unusual noises including choking, gurgling, snoring-type sounds from an unconscious/unresponsive person
- Skin discoloration, most common in fingernails and lips: blue/purple/pale
- Cold, clammy skin
- Constricted pupils, unresponsive to light
Now let’s take a quick look at the most recent information on the overdose crisis here in the U.S.
Overdose Crisis: General Facts We All Need to Know
- Drug overdose is the leading cause of injury-related death in the U.
- 296 people died each day from drug overdose in 2022: that’s 107,941 people
- Over 3/4ths of those overdose fatalities involved opioids.
- 6 million people needed SUD treatment in 2022
- Only 24% received treatment
- 1 million people age 12+ needed treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD)
- Only 18.3% received medication-assisted treatment (MAT), the gold-standard treatment for OUD
That information reminds us of the importance of IOAD. We’ve lost over a million people to the overdose crisis since 1999, with steady increases every year, with two exceptions: overdose fatalities decreased between 2018 and 2019, and then decreased between 2022 and 2023. The news from last year is a ray of hope, but we need to keep it in perspective. Overdose rates have increased 538 percent since 1999. Therefore, while the 2023 figures show we may – possibly – have turned a corner, there’s still serious work ahead.
Now let’s review the accomplishments reported by the Pennington Institute for IOAD 2023.
Overdose Awareness Day 2023: Worldwide Engagement and Advocacy
It’s hard to believe that back in 2001, the founder of IOAD, Sally J Finn, could have predicted the size and scope the day would have, twenty-three years later. Here’s what the 2023 IOAD Report says they accomplished:
1000+ events in 40+ countries with 60,000 participants – and 95% of host organizations plan on holding an event in 2024.
That’s truly incredible and represents real progress. Back in 2001, we struggled under misconceptions about drug use and drug overdose. The language we used and our approach to treatment, in many cases, caused harm. Stigma was common. Many people believed addiction was the result of a character flaw, a moral failing, or simple lack of willpower. The gold-standard treatment – medication-assisted treatment (MAT) – was misunderstood and drastically underutilized.
Fast-forward to 2023, and virtually everything has changed. The advent and acceptance of the medical/disease model of addiction – which we now call substance use disorder (SUD) – taught us that the disordered use of substances is a treatable medical condition, not a personal failure. This sea change led to increased understanding and a reduced stigma, both of which are positive developments.
That’s not all.
Medication-assisted treatment (MAT), underused and widely shunned in 2001, is now a cornerstone of our national strategy to address the opioid overdose crisis, called harm reduction. To learn more about harm reduction, please read these two articles in the blog section of our website:
Harm Reduction in Addiction Treatment: What You Need to Know, Part One
Harm Reduction in Addiction Treatment: What You Need to Know, Part Two
Additional IOAD 2023 accomplishments include:
- On IOAD 2023, President Joe Biden announced $450 million in funding to address the opioid crisis.
- In Ireland and Scotland, public health officials announced programs to increase access to the lifesaving overdose reversal medication, Narcan.
- The pharmaceutical corporation Emergent announced the first shipments of Narcan for over-the-counter sale in pharmacies around the U.S.
Now let’s look at what’s on deck for IOAD 2024.
What We Can Do for International Overdose Awareness Day
A great place to start is reading articles like this one, following the links we provide, and learning everything possible about overdose, substance use disorder (SUD), treatment for SUD, and supporting both overdose survivors and people at risk of overdose.
On a personal level, it’s important for all of us to remember the following:
- Words like addict and junkie are stigmatizing, and should be avoided
- Substance use disorder (SUD) is a medical condition that responds to evidence-based treatment. SUD is not related to character flaw, moral failings, or a lack of willpower.
- We can reduce risk of overdose by increasing awareness around SUD and treatment for SUD.
- The more we show compassion and understanding for people with SUD, the more likely they are to seek treatment, which dramatically reduces the likelihood of overdose.
For people interested in engaging in public advocacy on IOAD 2024, here are several options:
- Host an event for IOAD
- Visit the IOAD website, download the social media sharables, and share them.
- Honor lost friends, family, or loved ones with a tribute
- Support public policies that increase access to treatment for OUD, including medication-assisted treatment (MAT)
- Support harm reduction services, and explain why they’re important to people who don’t understand what harm reduction is or how it works
The theme for IOAD 2024 is a perfect way to close. Remember that overdose is more than an individual or family issue. Overdose affects us all in a negative way, and preventing or reducing overdose helps us all. Therefore, we’ll end with this message:
Together we can.
#TogetherWeCan #IOAD2024 #EndOverdose
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