In January of 2025, Illinois hit an important milestone. Since July 2021, the Illinois Department of Human Services/Division of Substance Use Prevention and Recovery (IDHS/SUPR) has shipped over 1 million 2-dose boxes of Narcan across the state of Illinois through the Access Narcan project. The Access Narcan project provides no-cost nasal naloxone to organizations that are doing outreach, distribution, and engaging with those at risk of overdose through our Drug Overdose Prevention Program (DOPP).
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) requested all states to begin saturating their states with naloxone two years ago. Illinois was already ahead of the curve and has exceeded SAMHSA's saturation targets. Once shipped, these boxes of nasal naloxone are distributed to those most at risk of overdose, their friends, and families.
DOPP enrollees have reported training 121,147 people on how to identify and respond to an overdose. A total of 10,934 naloxone administrations have been documented through the IDHS/SUPR portal, although these numbers are underreported. Overdose data provided by the Illinois Department of Public Health shows a decrease in the number of overdoses deaths in Illinois during 2023, Statewide Semiannual Overdose Report pdf.
IDHS/SUPR applauds all those who have worked tirelessly to get this lifesaving medicine into the hands of those who need it most while also acknowledging that we have much to do to still reduce overall overdose deaths to pre opioid crisis levels and reduce the disparate impact on older African American males.
