31 August marks International Overdose Awareness Day, when stakeholders worldwide commemorate those who have lost their lives to overdoses and advocate for policies and practices to prevent, manage, and reduce them.

The Global Commission’s longstanding call to align drug policies with public health and human rights includes full support for evidence-based harm reduction interventions. These include needle and syringe programmes (NSPs), opioid agonist therapy (OAT), take-home and peer-led naloxone distribution, drug checking, and overdose prevention centers (OPCs). Despite decades of evidence demonstrating their effectiveness, these interventions remain prohibited or inaccessible to many who need them most.

OPCs, in particular, are a vital component of effective overdose prevention strategies, yet remain heavily underutilized and stigmatized in many settings. The Global Commission has consistently undertaken site visits to OPCs to highlight their work and learn from local initiatives. For example, last year the Global Commission visited OnPoint in New York City, United States, and the year before conducted an on-site visit to the North Richmond Medically Supervised Injecting Room (MSIR) and Health Centre in Melbourne, Australia. Most recently, the Global Commission underscored its support for these life-saving services during its visit to The Thistle in Glasgow, Scotland – which became the first OPC to operate with official sanction in the UK when it opened earlier this year. The Thistle has already made a considerable impact, but more such centers are desperately needed in the UK, US, and in other jurisdictions where overdose rates remain distressingly high.