Victorian heroin overdose prevention and education campaign

Victoria (Australia) Department of Human Services campaign of stickers, wallet cards and posters with five overdose-prevention messages, distributed through needle and syringe programs from November 2005 to April 2006 after a rise in fatal heroin overdoses in 2001-2003.

Years: 2005–2006
Country: Australia
Topic: Drugs Opioids
Asks people to: Recognize Start
Strategy: Simple instruction
Channel: Clinical setting Print
Audience: Adults
People who inject drugs attending needle and syringe programs.

Evidence

ProcessNo effect

Commissioned evaluation with client surveys (n=855 baseline) and interviews: fewer than a quarter of campaign messages were mentioned by a significantly higher share of clients after the campaign than before, despite staff believing it had lasting impact. The main weakness cited was the 2-4 year delay between detecting the overdose trend and launching materials (Horyniak 2010).

Sponsor (who paid)

Victorian Government Department of Human Services Foreign government, funder and creator

Credits (who made it)

Macfarlane Burnet Institute for Medical Research and Public Health Research evaluation, 2006 source

Related campaigns

International Overdose Awareness Day 2001–now

Sources

Horyniak D et al. An evaluation of a heroin overdose prevention and education campaign. Drug Alcohol Rev 2010 evaluation · 2010 · DOI 10.1111/j.1465-3362.2009.00083.x · PMID 20078676

Research notes

Campaign title not given in the abstract; official name still to find (the full text is paywalled; no PMC copy). Credits checked 2026-10-22 against fetched pages: Burnet Institute (PubMed record: evaluation 'commissioned to be conducted in late 2006', first author at the Centre for Population Health, Macfarlane Burnet Institute). Materials were also distributed through other drug and alcohol services, not only needle and syringe programs. Pre-2016 and outside the 2021-2026 opioid inventory window; kept as an early example. Lesson: harm-reduction messages to people who use drugs must launch fast enough to match the drug market.

Record cases/victoria-heroin-overdose-prevention-campaign.json, updated 2026-10-22· Link to this campaign