International Overdose Awareness Day

August 31st is International Overdose Awareness Day (IOAD). International Overdose Awareness Day was started in 2001 by Sally J Finn, and has since been convened by the Pennington Institute. Their goal is to connect lived experience and research to make sustainable changes to policy and prevention programming, and ultimately improve public health. The theme for this year is “Together we can”, which is meant to emphasize the power of coming together to prevent the harms and risk of overdose. Overdose is something that impacts everyone, whether you have personally witnessed it or not. International Overdose Awareness Day is a time to remember without stigma those we have loss, as well as acknowledge the grief of the friends and family members left behind. Join us in recognizing IOAD by helping us bring awareness to prevention resources, treatment services, and harm reduction tools.

Other ways that you can honor IOAD includes…

• Sharing information about Naloxone

• Taking a Naloxone or crisis intervention training

• Educating yourself about stigma and the benefits of using person first language

• Cleaning out your medicine cabinet, or utilizing a prescription drug lockbox

• Supporting individuals in active recovery

• Giving to/supporting an evidence-based prevention organization

For more information about Naloxone Training and Prescription Lock Boxes, reach out to info@georgiapreventionproject.org. To learn more about International Overdose Awareness Day, visit overdoseday.org