Author: McKinley Corbley / Source: Good News Network
San Francisco is launching a groundbreaking new program that will provide opioid addiction treatment to homeless people directly on the streets.
Mayor Mark Marrell just announced that he will be investing $6 million in funding for the “first-in-the-nation” initiative as a means of curbing opioid addiction and reducing the risk of overdose.
The program employs a dedicated team of physicians to go out onto the Bay Area streets and write buprenorphine prescriptions for drug-addicted homeless people.
Buprenorphine is a pill that is taken daily to reduce withdrawal symptoms in drug users. The treatment has been shown to help in fighting off addiction and reducing rates of overdose.
RELATED: Town’s Compassionate Approach Cuts Rates of Overdose by More Than Half – State to Adopt It
When asked why the physicians provided the treatment on the streets, rather than in a clinic, Dr. Barry Zevin, who is the city’s medical director for Street Medicine and Shelter Health, told The New York Times:…
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