As illicit fentanyl and other synthetic opioids begin to surface in Nova Scotia, the province is taking action to prevent overdoses in the community committing more than $1 million in funding.
READ MORE: New opioid guidelines aim to alleviate Canada-wide addiction: NS doctor
Half of the funding is going to community-based harm reduction organizations, which are often considered the first line in helping prevent opioid overdoses.
A total of $559,000 is being provided to three organizations in the province:
- The Northern Healthy Connections Society in Truro will receive $160,000
- The Mainline Needle Exchange in Halifax will see an increase of $247,000
- Funding for the Sharp Advice Needle Exchange in Sydney will increase by $152,000
“It’s critical that we have these in place as we’re faced with increasing amounts of illicit fentanyl and other synthetic opioids on our streets in Nova Scotia,” said Dr. Robert Strang, the province’s chief medical officer of health.
READ MORE: Harm reduction programs can’t keep pace with Nova Scotia’s rising opioid problem
Mainline director Diane Bailey said Friday the funding will allow the organization to expand its central mobile outreach program to seven days a week across the province. She said they often travel into small communities and can be out for several hours, and the funding will allow an expansion of the number of hours they are available. They’ve only been able to visit smaller communities once a month.
She said the next step will be to train outreach staff so they can train others to provide overdose prevention and education.
“This is really exciting for us,” Bailey said. “You know, being able to expand what we do and provide more services to people who use drugs is … I don’t know I still say I’m still up in the clouds, this news was so welcoming.”
Access to naloxone, which can block the effects opioids can have on the body, will also be expanded by the Department of Health and Wellness through an investment of $564,000. Through the funding, 5,000 naloxone kits will be purchased and distributed to community and health-care organizations, such as municipal police forces and community pharmacies.
Strang told reporters during the announcement Friday that they are working out final details to provide naloxone at no cost at the pharmacies.
“Those are critically important pieces to have in place right now and we are working with our colleagues in the justice and the health-care system … around some of the longer-term pieces around improving access to opioid addiction treatment, changing prescribing patterns around opioids and increasing access to pain management,” Strang said.
Nalaxone is already being used by some police forces, such as the RCMP and Halifax police, as well as the province’s jails and some community agencies. The added funding will make more kits available.
Naloxone kits have been made available through community organizations and treatment programs in Halifax and Sydney and Strang said the kits have been used to combat more than 30 confirmed opioid overdoses. He said there’s also been at least 50 times people have come back for another kit.
“So we have saved dozens of lives already,” he said.
About a year ago, Direction 180 in Halifax also started training people how to administer the kits. Two weeks ago the executive director told Global News that 11 lives were saved as a result of the kits.
READ MORE: 11 lives in Halifax saved so far from opioid overdoses because of naloxone kits: Direction 180
In 2016, 60 people died from opioid overdoses, four of which involved illicit fentanyl, Strang said. He said on average Nova Scotia has seen 60 opioid overdoses a year.
The province says a full opioid response plan is expected to be released by the government this spring.
“These are the first steps to put in place in a longer-term opioid response,” Strang said. “But these are very important and really critical steps that we have in place.”
He said the investments are being made to “keep Nova Scotians safer.”
– With files from Alexa MacLean, Global News
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