The case in summary: • The 24sju help service in Oslo, which offers help to the most vulnerable drug addicts, is being discontinued due to a lack of funding from the Directorate of Health.• Nursing on wheels, which travels around Oslo’s open drug environment, reports increasing demand.• Rust tourism plays also in, with many drug addicts coming to Oslo from other parts of the country.• Health Minister Jan Christian Vestre has stated that the government will put forward a prevention and treatment reform, but that three immediate measures are needed this summer to reduce overdoses. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. “Are you guys open?” Just seconds after the small minivan stops at Storgata, the first man approaches. “25 and 30”, he says further. He requests needles of a certain size. Photo: Ingrid Cogorno Every day, Sykepleie drives on wheels around Oslo’s open drug environment. It is not difficult to understand that they are popular: One by one they approach the open car. “I pass out often. It feels good. But is it stupid?” one asks. “Do you have anything to drink, I’m thirsty,” says another. Here, all questions are allowed. In addition to equipment such as cookware and filters, the nurses also provide good advice, water and wound care. “I know pretty much everyone”Anne GuroNurse in Nursing on wheels But now the rust tourists have also come to Oslo for the summer. The environment has become much larger. In a meeting with the Minister of Health last week, Oslo Municipality said that 40 per cent of all the Outdoor Section meets in drug environments are now from outside the city. At the same time, aid offers are kneeling under a lack of money. Nursing on wheels Run by the Fransiskushjelpen foundation Offers outreach health care to drug addicts from a car Travels to all Oslo districts Distributes clean user equipment and antidotes, provides health assessment and advice, wound care, medicine delivery and Hepatitis C testing Fears more overdoses The Church’s city mission’s low-threshold offer, 24sju, is under liquidation. The location in the center of Oslo offers a variety of help to the most vulnerable drug addicts in the city. As the name describes, it was previously open 24 hours a day. Now they have to close the doors at 18:00. The place closes for good in August. Lack of funding from the Norwegian Directorate of Health is the reason. – 24sju has been very important, and this affects the patient group to a large extent. We notice it, says nurse Anne Guro. A drug user needs help from Anne Guro in the car. Photo: Ingrid Cogorno Even in the summer, they only drive around during the day. When 24sju is also not open in the evening and at night, there are many incidents that go undetected, she believes. – When we switch on our phone in the morning, lots of requests come in. We try to cover where we can. Clean user equipment is made available for those who want it. Photo: Ingrid Cogorno New, synthetic and dangerous substances in circulation make the situation critical. – We heard a short time ago that there were four people who ingested a very strong batch, where one person we had followed up for a long time died, she says. – Easy to die by Ina Roll Spinnangr: Just want to convey that I am concerned about the situation of people with drug addiction this summer. The SMS above was sent by Ina Roll Spinnangr, leader of the Safer drug policy association, to Oslo’s social council Julianne Ferskaug (V) in June. In the exchange of messages, she lists several reasons, including the closure of 24sju, and the life-threatening synthetic substances. – Many unfortunate things happen at the same time. There is a crisis, says Spinnangr to news. Ina Roll Spinnangr is a leader in Safer Drug Policy and has a unique insight into Oslo’s drug environment. Photo: Bård Nafstad The association runs, among other things, Eikaklinikken, which, like 24sju, does not have the capacity to accept new patients. This makes it more difficult for many to get medication. – Then many will resort to the street market. There, the risk of overdose increases considerably. Those who lose the most – I have used them for food, medicine and sleep, says a heavy drug user who has approached the parked minivan of Nursing on Wheels in Storgata. He is talking about 24 seven. He has noticed that something has happened. – Sometimes it has been closed. Other times I have waited a long time. Should it be shut down?, he asks. Storgata in Oslo houses the city’s – and perhaps the country’s – largest open drug scene. Photo: Ingrid Cogorno Section leader Kari Gran confirms that they have had to make 18.6 man-years redundant, and that they will close down soon. She believes that the general situation for those most addicted to drugs is “worrying”. – Those who lose the most are those we meet in central Oslo, who are left out and who do not get the help they need. A female drug user says that she has cut back on injecting, but that she is still completely dependent on amphetamines. Photo: Ingrid Cogorno Haster Last year, 363 people died of overdoses in Norway. This is the highest number since 2001, according to the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. Spinnangr believes something should be done here and now. – If no changes happen quickly, I think the overdose numbers will only rise. Now Health Minister Jan Christian Vestre (Ap) is taking action: A few days after the drive with Nursing on wheels, he talks in VG about urgent measures to reduce overdoses. – The increase in overdoses gives cause for concern, and the summer can be a challenging time, says State Secretary Karl Kristian Bekeng (Ap) to news. – The government will put forward a prevention and treatment reform, but there is a need for three immediate measures this summer. Urgent measures Ensure that several low-threshold services in Oslo and similarly in other cities can stay open this summer: Several operators have come forward and reported that due to changes in an arrangement in the Directorate of Health, they cannot operate as normal. They will be able to apply for a new grant scheme with a deadline of 12 August. We have requested that the Directorate of Health carry out ongoing assessments of the applications of actors who have been refused, so that they can then receive advances and operating funds throughout the summer and can operate as normal this summer. We must offer naloxone to patients who are prescribed addictive drugs: The Norwegian Directorate of Health is changing the guidelines from Friday 5 July, so that doctors are asked to consider prescribing naloxone on blue prescriptions to patients who use addictive drugs (opioids) and have an increased risk of overdose. Patients using prescription opioids have accounted for a large proportion of the increase in overdose numbers in recent years. Ensure that the antidote for overdose is available: We have also made sure that there is a good supply of nasal sprays with the antidote naloxone for overdose and asked the Directorate of Health to update and disseminate information about naloxone. Naloxone nasal spray is distributed in 350 places in 108 municipalities around the country. 3–5 minutes of training is provided when users or others collect naloxone. Both 24sju and Eikaklinikken are now betting on being granted money from the new grant scheme from the Directorate of Health. But 24sju’s employees have already been made redundant, and the liquidation process will not be stopped, confirms Kari Gran in the Church’s city mission: – We are seeking funds, we have received confirmation that we will receive funds, but not how much. We won’t know the framework we actually have until we have a response to the application from the Directorate of Health, which manages the scheme, she says. Kari Gran in the Church’s City Mission. Photo: Kirkens Bymisjon Published 10.07.2024, at 13.38
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More overdoses and drunk tourists, but less help – now the health minister is taking action – Greater Oslo
