Narcan/Naloxone Harm Reduction Program

About the Program

Category: Health (Best in Category)

Year: 2020

For the past two decades, New Mexico has had one of the highest rates of opioid overdose deaths in the nation and has been on the forefront of many initiatives to reduce drug overdose fatalities through prevention strategies. As the population center for the state, Bernalillo County and the Albuquerque Metropolitan area have seen a significant share of these cases. With this in mind, the Bernalillo County Department of Behavioral Health Services (DBHS) expanded its outreach efforts to improve the physical and behavioral health of high risk individuals through opioid overdose education and naloxone distribution. At the Comprehensive Assessment and Recovery through Excellence [CARE] campus, individuals are provided substance use and behavioral health services, as well as at the Resource Re-entry Center in downtown Albuquerque where individuals are released from incarceration. Additional tools include a mobile-van based harm reduction clinic, which is focused on outreach for community needle pick up in the streets where drug use is prevalent and there is a direct interaction with individuals suffering from opioid addiction. These efforts were made possible through a partnership with Bernalillo County Community Health Council, for which a total of 113 individuals were provided opioid overdose prevention education and naloxone training with a total of 349 naloxone kits distributed through DBHS since the inception of the program. DBHS expects to see an increase in outcomes with continued implementation of the harm reduction prevention program.