184 People in Cyprus Have Died from Drug Overdoses in 20 Years

Since 2004, 184 people in Cyprus have died from drug overdoses.

This information was released by the Monitoring Department of the Cyprus Anti-Drug Council (AAEK) on International Overdose Awareness Day.

According to the Monitoring Department, since 2004, when records began, Cyprus has reported 184 deaths due to overdoses of psychoactive substances. The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction reported that in 2022, there were at least 6,400 drug overdose deaths in the EU, with most deaths linked to the use of multiple psychoactive substances.

Christos Minas, President of AAEK, emphasized that drug overdose deaths are preventable.

“AAEK is committed to creating a society that better understands the importance of preventing drug overdoses and the measures to achieve this,” the statement said.

To address this, AAEK is promoting various initiatives, including integrating opioid users into substitution therapy, expanding harm reduction programs across Cyprus, and providing harm reduction materials through automated vending machines in all districts.

Additionally, AAEK is working to ensure the availability of naloxone (an opioid receptor antagonist used as an antidote for opioid overdoses) and is training both frontline professionals and opioid users, along with their families, on its proper use.