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Stop Overdose Safely (S-O-S)

Also: S-O-S initiative · WHO-UNODC S-O-S

Joint UNODC and WHO initiative launched in 2017 at the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs to promote community naloxone, based on WHO's 2014 guidelines on community management of opioid overdose. Its 2016-2020 multisite project in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Ukraine trained about 16,000 people, mostly people who use drugs and their families, to recognise an overdose and give naloxone, and handed out take-home kits.

Years
2017–now
Country
KazakhstanKyrgyzstanTajikistanUkraine
Topic
DrugsHarm reductionOpioids
Asks people to
RecognizeStart
Strategy
Gatekeeper trainingSelf efficacySimple instruction
Channel
Clinical settingEvents
Audience
Adults
People who use opioids, their families and friends, and first responders in four low- and middle-income countries.

Evidence

ObservationalPositive

Prospective cohort of 400-417 trained participants per country, 84% (1,388/1,646) followed up at 6 months: of those who witnessed an overdose, naloxone was used at the most recent one by 82% (Ukraine), 89% (Kazakhstan), 89% (Kyrgyzstan) and 100% (Tajikistan); nearly all victims survived (Dietze 2022). No comparison group; outcomes self-reported. WHO reports about 16,000 trained and about 40,000 naloxone ampoules distributed in 2016-2020.

Sponsor (who paid)

  • United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Multilateral, co-lead
  • World Health Organization (WHO) Multilateral, co-lead
  • U.S. State Department Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Federal government, funder (evaluation study)

Credits (who made it)

  • Burnet Institute (Paul Dietze) Research evaluation, 2016-2022 source

Related campaigns

Sources

  1. Dietze P et al. An observational prospective cohort study of naloxone use at witnessed overdoses, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Ukraine. Bull World Health Organ 2022;100(3):187-195 evaluation · 2022 · DOI 10.2471/BLT.21.286459 · PMID 35261407
  2. WHO-UNODC 'Stop Overdose Safely (S-O-S)' initiative (WHO) sponsor
  3. Dietze P et al. Impact of UNODC/WHO S-O-S (stop-overdose-safely) training on opioid overdose knowledge and attitudes among people at high or low risk of opioid overdose in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Ukraine. Harm Reduct J 2025 evaluation · 2025 · DOI 10.1186/s12954-025-01167-2 · PMID 39979970

Research notes

Discovered 2026-10-22 for #17. Credits checked 2026-10-22 against fetched pages: Burnet Institute (Dietze, first author, PubMed record). A training-and-distribution initiative with a public-facing brand rather than a mass media campaign. Pilot ran 2016-2020; initiative launched at CND 2017. UNODC-WHO S-O-S summary report (IDPC listing, 2021) not opened. Add this evaluation to docs/opioid-campaigns-literature.md (not currently listed). Evaluation sources added 2026-10-22 (citation snowballing / helpline pass): Dietze 2025; evidence level and outcome unchanged.

Record cases/unodc-who-stop-overdose-safely.json, updated 2026-10-22· Link to this campaign