About this release

This release by Public Health Scotland (PHS) presents information on the number of take-home naloxone kits issued by the National Naloxone Programme (NNP) in Scotland (January to March 2025/26). Figures are presented separately for kits issued from community-based services (mainly specialist drug treatment and non-drug treatment services), kits issued in prisons at the point of liberation, kits dispensed via community prescription, and kits issued by Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS).

Accidental overdose is a common cause of death among users of heroin, morphine and similar drugs, which are referred to as opioids. Naloxone is a drug which reverses the effects of a potentially fatal overdose with these drugs.

PHS is currently modernising this publication by transitioning from a PDF monitoring bulletin to an interactive dashboard. This release consists of a Publication Summary and accompanying data tables only. A full analytical report has not been produced while dashboard development and refinement is completed. PHS are aiming for the interactive dashboard to become the primary reporting output for quarterly monitoring NNP statistics from the next planned release (15 December 2026), accompanied by a Publication Summary.

Main points

During 2025/26 Quarter 4 (1 January 2026 to 31 March 2026):

• 7,729 Take-Home Naloxone (THN) kits were issued.
• 6,532 THN kits were issued by services based in the community:
  • 3,895 kits supplied by drug treatment services;
  • 870 kits supplied by other non-drug treatment services;
  • 924 kits supplied by Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol and Drugs (SFAD).
• 553 kits were issued by prisons in Scotland.
• 335 kits were supplied via prescriptions dispensed by community pharmacies.
• 286 THN kits were provided by SAS.
• A total of 538 kits (344 in prisons and 194 in the community) were supplied by peers (a trained champion/mentor that provides training and a THN kit to others who may witness an overdose).

At the end of 2025/26 Quarter 4, the 'reach' of the NNP (percentage of people at risk of opioid overdose who have been supplied with THN) was estimated to be 88.9%, an increase of 1.4 percentage points compared to 2025/26 Quarter 3 (87.5%).

A total of 36,955 THN kits were supplied in financial year 2025/26, the highest annual total since the beginning of the NNP.

Chart showing the number of take-home naloxone kits supplied for each financial quarter from April to June 2011 up to January to March 2026. It shows that there has been an increase over time in Naloxone provision, with a particularly large increase in quarter 1 of financial year 2020/21 and quarter 3 of financial year 2021/22. The first three quarters of 2025/26 have also shown a notable increase in take home naloxone kit distribution. In Q4 2025/26 the number of naloxone kits decreased to 7,729.

Close

Number of Take-Home Naloxone kits supplied by financial year and quarter

Background

The overall aim of Scotland’s NNP is to prevent fatal opioid overdoses. Administration of naloxone provides time for emergency services to arrive and for further treatment to be given. Following suitable training, THN kits are issued to people at risk of opioid overdose (based on self-identification or service assessment at the time of naloxone supply), their friends and family and service workers in order to help prevent overdose deaths. For more information on the background of the NNP and for a definition of 'reach', see Appendix 1 in the National Naloxone Programme Scotland Official Statistics report.

In November 2023, the Naloxone Reporting Short Life Working Group (SLWG) set out recommendations to improve naloxone data collection, reporting and oversight. A number of changes are being introduced to naloxone reporting to reflect the SLWG’s recommendations and to ensure outputs remain efficient, sustainable and fit for purpose. This includes updates to specific indicators and a transition from the current quarterly bulletin style publication to an interactive dashboard. PHS are aiming for the dashboard to be the primary reporting output for the next quarterly monitoring bulletin publication (planned for 15 December 2026), alongside the Publication Summary.

Further information

The next release of this publication will be 15 December 2026.