The cost-effectiveness of naloxone programmes for the treatment of heroin overdoses ‘on the street': a 2-year data collection by the Street Unit of the Villa Maraini Foundation
Introduction: The mortality rate of opioid users is 5 to 10 times greater than that of the general population, and the most common cause of death in that case is an overdose. When treated in a timely fashion with the opioid antagonist naloxone, an opioid overdose is rarely lethal. Unfortunately, many opioid overdoses occur in isolated, hidden, inaccessible locations.