The CHOW Project, in collaboration with University Health Partners of Hawaiʻi (the faculty practice of the University of HHawaiʻi John A. Burns School of Medicine), will begin to distribute kits to the people at risk of an opioid overdose. The kits contain an injectable medicine that can reverse lethal doses of opioid drugs.
Drug users in the community who have the highest risk of overdose will be the first to receive the kits on September 12. Along with the distribution of the kits, The CHOW Project will host sessions in which users or close relatives will learn to properly administer the medicine.
The community distribution of Naloxone-type medicine is made possible by Act 68, passed by the Hawaiʻi State Legislature and signed into law on July 7 by Governor David Ige. The statute creates immunity for healthcare professions and pharmacists who prescribe, distribute or administer the medicine and also authorizes first responders, family members and friends to administer the medication to anyone experiencing an opioid-related drug overdose.
