Every year, August 31st is the world’s largest annual campaign to end overdose. The Center for Disease Control ‘s Health Statistics indicate there were an estimated 107,543 drug overdose deaths since 2023 in the U.S. alone. With education, support, and remembrance of those who died from overdoses, this year’s theme is #togetherwecan #IOAD2024 that plans on lowering those statistics.
What You Can Do To Help Spread Awareness
How? Some ideas are posted on International Overdose Awareness Day such as holding a memorial service, planting a tree, invite a speaker, have an open mic night or host a barbecue. You can register an event and get campaign tool kits such as banners, posters, zoom or Desktop backgrounds, email signatures, and T-shirt designs. You can download a 2024 Campaign Kit for free. For purchase, you can buy caps, T-shirts and totes. There are also in the Advocacy Tool Kit letter templates to support your advocacy efforts calling for policy changes. If you are looking for educational materials, they have information on overdose response, prevention, and harm reduction.
Don’t forget the power of social media and your connections and have your friends participate with their own events. There is a media support kit to grab the attention of local media to get even broader coverage for your IOAD event and overdose awareness messages.
Honor Those Who Died
You can acknowledge the grief of families and friends left behind by posting on the tribute page of the International Overdose Awareness Day. The symbols of the international Overdose Awareness Day are silver and purple.
Most of all, spread the word and end the stigma of drug overdose by letting your community know about the signs of overdose and how to help from Medical News Today
- Look for shallow breathing, blue lips, and unresponsiveness.
- Ensure their airway remains open by lifting the chin to help them breathe and stop them from choking.
- Check breathing and monitor their condition until help arrives. Don’t try to make the person vomit.
- Naloxone or Narcan works only on overdoses caused by opioid prescription drugs such as OxyContin, fentanyl, methadone, heroin and Vicodin. It will reverse the drug’s interaction for only 30 minutes. It does not work on cocaine, benzodiazepines (“benzos”) or alcohol.
The signs of a mixed overdose are:
- fast/troubled breathing
- increased body temperature
- nausea or vomiting
- chest pain
- seizures or tremors
I lost a son, age 33, in an accidental overdose across the country. It still pains. You are not upsetting the parents by bringing up the death of their child. Acknowledging the death is better, even years after the memorial service. Together, speaking about drug addiction and what can be done to prevent it, including overdoses, are the solutions that can end the stigma, I think.
Wesley Cullen Davidson
Wesley Cullen Davidson is an award-winning freelance writer and journalist specializing in parenting. Currently, she is targeting her writing about recovery to parents whose children have substance abuse disorders.