New York City Launches "Public Health Vending Machine" To Combat Overdoses and Spread of Diseases

  • by:
  • Source: Wayne Dupree
  • 06/07/2023
According to the New York Post, the New York City Health Department revealed a "public health vending machine" on Monday that would disperse safe sex kits, Narcan, and drug paraphernalia in an effort to lessen drug overdoses and the transmission of infections.

According to a news release, the machine will provide supplies from a site in Brooklyn close to a supportive living facility 24/7 at no cost. According to The New York Post, the machines also dispense "Safer Sniffing" kits, which come with kits for sniffing marijuana or crack cocaine, as well as "Safer Smoking" kits, which come with kits for both.

The kits also include naloxone, a drug overdose medication.

Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan stated in a news release that "we are in the middle of an overdose catastrophe in our city, which is stealing a fellow New Yorker from us every three hours and is a key reason why life expectancy in NYC is declining." But we'll keep working with kindness, compassion, and action to protect our loved ones and neighbours from harm. Public health vending machines are a cutting-edge technique to reach people where they are and provide them access to life-saving supplies like naloxone. We'll stop at nothing to buck the city's trends in opioid-related fatalities.

As part of the city's strategy to cut overdose fatalities by 15% by 2025 (2,668 individuals died of overdoses in New York City in 2021, with the majority of these deaths attributable to fentanyl), Narcan, a medication used to treat narcotic overdoses, is being distributed free of charge.





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