PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) \u2014 Philadelphia has seen modest reductions in overdose deaths in recent years, but there\u2019s been an increase in racial disparities. Health and safety officials on Thursday announced a new effort to reduce fatal overdoses for everyone.<\/p>\n
Between 2019 and 2023 \u2014 the last year that figures were available \u2014 overdose deaths among white Philadelphians went down almost 20%. However, deaths went up 17% for Hispanic residents and 61% for Black residents.<\/p>\n
State officials found what could be the key to that disparity: Black overdose victims were half as likely to receive the overdose-reversing drug naloxone. Philadelphia Public Safety Director Adam Geer said the new effort, called Naloxone in Black, seeks to solve that problem by making naloxone widely and easily available.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy increasing access and removing the stigma around naloxone, we will continue to make inroads here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Officials gathered at Engine 9 in Germantown on Thursday to unveil the newspaper-style boxes that are now filled with free naloxone. They have been placed at all 61 fire stations across the city.<\/p>\n
\u201cFire stations are already trusted spaces,\u201d added Geer. \u201cThey\u2019re open 24\/7 and these boxes ensure that life-saving naloxone is available to anyone at any time.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t need to talk to anyone,\u201d noted Deputy Fire Commissioner Martin McCall. \u201cYou don\u2019t need to provide any information. You just walk up, open the box, take what you need.\u201d<\/p>\n
The state provided 50,000 doses of naloxone to stock the boxes, thanks to a federal grant.<\/p>\n
Kelly Primus, deputy secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs, said naloxone reversed more than 6,000 overdoses in the first six months of 2025. She\u2019s confident those numbers will increase through Naloxone in Black.<\/p>\n
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