Renfrewshire residents will come together today to remember those who have died or have suffered permanent injuries due to a drug overdose.
Observed on August 31 every year, International Overdose Awareness Day (IOAD) seeks to create better understanding of overdose, reduce the stigma of drug-related deaths, and create change that reduces the harms associated with drug use.
Renfrewshire Alcohol and Drug Partnership (ADP) is committed to continuing to work collaboratively to prevent and reduce alcohol and drugs harms within communities.
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In Renfrewshire, some of the area’s landmark buildings - including Paisley Town Hall, Johnstone Bandstand and Bascule Bridge in Renfrew - will be lit up later to recognise the day.
Christine Laverty, chief officer of Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP), said: “No family should ever have to go through the pain of losing a loved one because of an overdose.
“Overdose can affect anybody, and one of the messages of this day is that the people who overdose are our sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters – they are loved and they are missed.”
Staff from Renfrewshire’s HSCP and CIRCLE - Continuing in Recovery Changes Lives Entirely - will also be helping to raise awareness on the day by hosting overdose information stalls at two of Renfrewshire’s busiest locations, Braehead and the Piazza.
According to National Records of Scotland, between the years 2017 and 2021, in Renfrewshire - per 100,000 deaths - 29 were accountable to drug misuse.
There have also been some links regarding those living in poverty and mortality rates based on a study also from National Records of Scotland.
Data from ‘Scotland’s Population 2021’ shows the different outcomes that people face depending on their age, ethnicity, sex or experience of deprivation, and where the gaps are largest.
The short report also looks at how existing health inequalities have been reflected in Covid-19 deaths, with older people who tend to have pre-existing health conditions more likely to die than younger people.
Julie Ramsay, statistician and Head of Vital Events for NRS, said: “Mortality rates are about twice as high in the most deprived areas compared with the least deprived. But for some specific causes of death, we see much larger inequalities. For example, people in the most deprived areas of Scotland are more than 15 times as likely to die from drug misuse as those in the least deprived areas.
“That ratio has increased over the past two decades. In the early 2000s, those in the most deprived areas were around 10 times as likely to have a drug misuse death as those in the least deprived areas. In the last year, the gap has narrowed slightly.”
West Scotland MSP Paul O’Kane insists “meaningful and compassionate conversation” must be had about drugs deaths.
The Scottish Labour spokesperson for Public Health said: "In July we were told that 2021 saw the second highest number of drug deaths ever recorded and the entire country was reminded of the scale of the problem.
“Today the NRS has revealed that, and I quote, ‘In 2021, people in the most deprived areas were 15.3 times as likely to die from drug misuse as those in the least deprived areas’”
“Drugs deaths and all the complicated factors that surround it such as inequality and deprivation, are only going to be addressed if we can remove the stigma completely from the dialogue we have and make way for meaningful and compassionate conversation.
“Today is about remembering the 50 people who lost their lives to drugs in Renfrewshire in 2021, the 1330 people across the country who died from drug related deaths that same year, all of the people who died the year previously and everyone before that, and it’s in their memory that we all must make sure that we have these conversations about prevention and recovery”
For information on overdoses in Scotland, visit: www.overdoseday.com/
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