Nova Scotia has unveiled its new opioid use and overdose framework in an effort to address both issues, including making the life-saving drug naloxone freely accessible to those who need it.
The framework, announced Wednesday, focuses on five key areas: understanding the issue, prevention, harm reduction, prescribing practices and criminal justice.
But one of the biggest changes for the province is its move to make the life-saving drug naloxone more available to the public.
The drug is known for being able to block the effects opioids can have on the body and recent statistics have shown at least 40 lives have been saved by using naloxone in Nova Scotia since January 2016.
READ MORE: At least 2,458 Canadians died from opioid-related overdoses in 2016: PHAC
Health Minister Randy Delorey said the drug will also be made available for free at more than 300 pharmacies starting Sept. 1. It is an expansion of the $564,000 antidote program first announced earlier this year.
“By putting naloxone in pharmacies we want to make it accessible to everyone in a convenient and trusted location, one that doesn’t carry a stigma if you’re to go in to visit,” he said.
In addition, naloxone kits have also been provided to 130 sheriffs, 86 corrections officers and 1,900 police officers across Nova Scotia so far.
As well, take-home naloxone kits will be given to offenders when they reintegrate back into the community.
Naloxone, however, is just one part of the framework, which says there are two distinct but related aspects of the opioid crisis. The “immediate issue” is the illicit production and distribution of synthetic opioids like fentanyl, but the report says there is also a long-standing problem of the over-prescription of opioids for pain treatment.
The province also announced, as part of the framework, that statistics on opioid deaths will be posted online.
READ MORE: Nova Scotia prepares to battle rising threat of fentanyl
From 2011 to 2015, the province has averaged 60 acute opioid deaths per year, and only one death was connected to the use of non-prescription fentanyl in Nova Scotia, according to the province’s opioid website. Last year, the province saw that number drop to 53 deaths in total, but documents released through a freedom of information request showed four deaths linked to fentanyl in 2016 were suspected to be from illicit sources.
In 2017, there have been 24 confirmed and five probable opioid toxicity deaths.
READ MORE: N.S. ramps up opioid crisis support with $1.1M in funding
Const. Asif Khan of Bridgewater Police knows first hand how important having naloxone on hand can be when battling overdoses. Earlier this year, the officer saved the life of a man he believed was overdosing while in the local station, though he was advised there was no trace of fentanyl in the blood.
“I for one am glad to have had the access to the naloxone spray available to me in this situation, given how the circumstances changed for me that night,” he said.
Nova Scotia’s chief medical officer of health Dr. Robert Strang said while not included in the framework, the province is still considering other methods of combating the crisis, including safe injection sites.
He told reporters they are still in the process of a “needs assessment” and could not speculate on what they may look like.
- ‘She gets to be 10’: Ontario child’s heart donated to girl the same age
- Bird flu risk to humans an ‘enormous concern,’ WHO says. Here’s what to know
- Shoppers faces proposed class action over claims company is ‘abusive’ to pharmacists
- Most Canadian youth visit dentists, but lack of insurance a barrier
Comments