Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine. Fentanyl continues to drive overdose deaths in San Francisco and in cities across the nation.
In October 2022, The San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) and Mayor London Breed announced the start of the City’s Overdose Prevention Plan, to reduce overdose deaths and address racial disparities. One of the strategic areas laid out in the plan is to “strengthen community engagement and social support for people at high risk for overdose.”
As part of this strategy, SFDPH is expanding naloxone distribution and training. Naloxone (also known as Narcan) is a lifesaving medication that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose.
Data notes and sources
Data notes and sources
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Naloxone may also be known as the brand name product Narcan.
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The San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) Behavioral Health Services Naloxone Clearinghouse, and the SFDPH-funded Drug Overdose Prevention and Education (DOPE) program both distribute naloxone to community-based programs. These programs then distribute naloxone to their participants. This chart shows the number of doses distributed to programs, not their participants. Most of the naloxone distributed to program participants is done by SFDPH-authorized syringe access programs.
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These data do not represent all naloxone distributed in San Francisco. Other organizations distribute naloxone that comes from other sources.
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These data are reported to the Office of Overdose Prevention of the San Francisco Department of Public Health and are updated quarterly. The data is available on the Open Data Portal and is maintained by DPH.
How Performance is Measured
This measure counts the number of naloxone doses distributed by the SFDPH funded Drug Overdose Prevention and Education (DOPE) and the DPH Behavioral Health Services Naloxone Clearinghouse to DPH providers and community-based partner programs during the reporting period. Data is provided by the Drug Overdose Prevention and Education (DOPE) project under the National Harm Reduction Coalition and the DPH Behavioral Health Services Naloxone Clearinghouse. DPH sets an achievable target each year based on annual trends and the goals laid out in the Overdose Prevention plan.
The number displayed on the Scorecard Page represents the number of doses distributed to providers and community partners in the most recent quarter.
Additional Information
View the Department of Public Health’s Overdose Prevention Plan
City Performance Scorecards
This page is part of the City Performance Scorecards.