Question reference: S6W-02748
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 8 September 2021
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Current status: Answered by Angela Constance on 22 September 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the projected cost is of the national marketing campaign to raise public awareness of the signs of drug overdose; how long it will run for; whether it is being targeted to particular locations, and how it is being funded.
Answer
The projected cost of the overall campaign is £800,000 which is being funded by the Scottish Government‘s ‘Reducing Drug Deaths’ budget. We are working in partnership with Scottish Drugs Forum to deliver the campaign which will run until mid-November 2021.
In addition to widening awareness of naloxone, one of the main objectives of the campaign is to ensure that the general public know that overdose deaths are preventable and to address stigmatising attitudes regarding the lives of people who use drugs. Stigmatising attitudes impact on people’s sense of self-worth and therefore the likelihood that people engage with treatment which is an evidenced protective factor against overdose deaths.
The campaign is national and every area in Scotland will have an access to multiple elements of the campaign resource. However, it was crucial that lower socio-economic areas, areas with high rates of drug deaths, were identified and particular parts of the campaign, such as bill-board or bus-stop adverts, were closely located to community pharmacies where naloxone would be available.