Social Development Deputy Minister Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu in partnership with the Central Drug Authority (CDA) and the South African Network for People Who Use Drugs will on Thursday join the global community in commemorating International Overdose Awareness Day.

Observed under the theme: “Recognizing those people who go unseen”, the commemorations will be held at the JB Marks Rehabilitation centre in Potchefstroom in the North West province on Thursday.

International Overdose Awareness day seeks to raise awareness around the silent killer that is overdose and the stigma that surrounds overdose fatalities, and that overdose deaths are preventable.

The observance of the day is part of the department’s implementation of the National Drug Master Plan 2019-2024, which is the country’s blueprint to combat the scourge of alcohol and substance abuse that has exponentially risen to epidemic proportion.

According to Harm Reduction International “overdose is a risk when using many psychoactive drugs, but is much common for some drugs such as opioids. It is especially common for people who use a combination of substances and those who inject drugs”.

Naloxone is known to rapidly reverse an opioid overdose by helping breathing return to normal, and return a person to consciousness but is sadly underused.

From 1 September 2023, for nine consecutive days across all nine provinces, the Deputy Minister will be educating South Africans about the dangers of Foetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder (FASD).

FASD is a leading source of non-genetic developmental and intellectual disability globally and is usually associated with primary and secondary disabilities. South Africa has been identified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to have the highest reported prevalence of FASD in the world.

Source: South African Government News Agency