The Salvation Army's Sally Finn nominated August 31 as Overdose Awareness Day 21 years ago in St Kilda.
Now a worldwide movement recognised this week by US President Joe Biden.
As a harm reduction practitioner at the Salvation Army's 24/7 Needle and Syringe Program in Melbourne's St Kilda, Sally J Finn had seen firsthand the devastation and stigma the families of overdose victims endure too many times.
"When I started International Overdose Awareness Day [IOAD], I met clients who had lost sometimes up to 17 friends from an overdose, and they really didn't feel they had any right to mourn for these people because of the way in which they had died," Finn says.
"I felt it was time to put a day aside on the calendar to mark the deaths of those we'd lost and those who had suffered permanent injury from an overdose. And, also, to raise awareness about how these deaths could be prevented."
Today, what began as a small gathering of mourners in St Kilda is now an internationally recognised day in some 39 countries across Asia, Africa, the Americas, Europe and the South Pacific.
Now run by the not-for-profit organisation, The Penington Institute, IOAD has resulted in the development of laws and the increase of provisions that assist in the lowering of the fatalities and harms related to overdoses across the world.
In fact, this week, US Present Joe Biden proclaimed August 29 through September 4, 2021 as Overdose Awareness Week, a testament to Finn's early efforts.
"I call upon citizens, government agencies, organizations, healthcare providers, and research institutions to raise awareness of substance use disorders to combat stigma, to promote treatment and celebrate recovery, and to strengthen our collective efforts to prevent overdose deaths," Biden decreed. "August 31st also marks Overdose Awareness Day, on which our Nation mourns the lives lost to the drug overdose epidemic."
Kathryn Wright, The Salvation Army's General Manager of Alcohol and Other Drugs for, praises Finn for her efforts in destigmatising overdose deaths and enabling families to grieve their lost ones with dignity and respect.
"It is imperative we get the word out that overdose can happen to anyone," Wrights says. "With the rise of prescription drug use we see daily how mistakes can be made with mixing medications with alcohol or simply forgetting how many pills have been taken and taking another.
"However, what we also want people to remember that overdosing is not necessarily a death sentence. There are proven ways to effectively reverse the effects of drugs and to recognise when someone is in distress and needs help. Early intervention is the key.
"And while there is much discussion around opiated and prescription drugs, it should also be noted that alcohol remains a huge problem in regard to overdose in this country."
The Penington Institute's statistics for the 2018 calendar year show:
· There were 1,556 unintentional drug-induced deaths in, accounting for more than three-quarters (75.2%) of all drug-induced deaths.
· This equates to more than four unintentional drug-induced deaths per day in 2018, or one death every 5.6 hours. It is anticipated that these numbers will rise as cases are finalised through the coronial system.
· Opioids were the drug group most identified in unintentional drug-induced deaths (900 deaths), followed by benzodiazepines (648 deaths), pharmaceutical opioids (457 deaths) and stimulants (442 deaths).
· Unintentional deaths were most common among the 40-49 age group, which accounted for 26.9% of all unintentional drug-induced deaths in 2018. Fewer than one in ten (9.6%) deaths recorded was among those aged under 30.
· Males were almost three times as likely as females to suffer an unintentional drug-induced death, accounting for 71.5% of deaths.
· Aboriginal people were almost three times as likely to die from an unintentional drug-induced death, with a rate of deaths of 17.3 per 100,000 population, compared with 6.0 deaths per 100,000 population for non-Aboriginal people.
· In 2018, 1,556 people died from unintentional drug-induced overdoses in Australia, compared with 1,220 people who died on our roads.
This June alone, the Salvation Army assisted 2,740 clients across its Alcohol and Other Drugs programs, and 6,286 YTD. Sessions of care provided for the month was 7,968 and 44,707 YTD.
