A life-saving drug designed to fight fentanyl overdoses can now be accessed more easily through Alberta pharmacies.
The provincial government announced Wednesday that take-home naloxone kits, which can be used to reverse a potentially fatal fentanyl overdose, are now available free with prescription at pharmacies across the province.
The expansion of the take-home naloxone program is a core part of the province’s response to the public health crisis caused by fentanyl, a dangerous opioid that is100 times more potent than morphine, heroine and Oxycontin and that is responsible for killing 213 Albertans in the last year alone.
By making Naloxone available in pharmacies, the province is expanding the reach of its harm reduction strategy said Brandy Payne, associate minister of health.
“Fentanyl is being used by people in many different age groups and from all walks of life, from our inner cities to our suburban communities,” she said during Wednesday’s announcement. “By making naloxone kits available at pharmacies we’re expanding the availability of these kits so they’re within closer reach of Albertans at risk.”
About 1,100 pharmacies are eligible to participate in the program. There are 4,000 kits currently available and each participating pharmacy gets two free kits.
So far, nearly 300 pharmacies have signed up to take the training. Midtown Apothecary, located in downtown St. Albert, is among them. With two prescribing pharmacists on hand, owner Karen Moak thought that her pharmacy could really make a difference in the fight against fentanyl, which is suspected to have claimed the life of at least one St. Albertan.
“We recognize that there is a need for this in the community and something that’s accessible for everybody, ” she said. “In my opinion, it should be accessible to anyone who needs it. We can make it easier for them to get it.”
Under current federal regulations, a prescription is needed to access take-home naloxone kits. The federal government recently announced it was expediting the process to make naloxone available over the counter.
In the meantime, for the kits to effectively save lives, pharmacists and medical professionals are encouraging friends and family members to attend the training sessions their loved one receives when filling out their prescriptions.
Eight other local pharmacies have signed up for the program, with others looking into the possibility.
Earlier this month, the government announced that naloxone kits were being made available at 29 different walk-in clinics. Prior to this, the drug was available through a number of harm reduction sites, which have given out close to 1,000 kits.
It has been reported that 75 have been used effectively. Experts believe this number is an underestimate of the number of lives saved, saying that not all uses are reported.
In Edmonton, Streetworks has handed out roughly 150 kits and experienced 25 overdose reversals since the start of the provincial program this summer.
Mathew Wong, nurse educator at Streetworks, says that expanding the program into local pharmacies is very positive. He has seen a diverse range of clients coming in to access the life-saving drug – everyone from those living in the street to middle class workers.
A Health Trends Alberta report, shows that out of the 1,757 people diagnosed with an opioid related disorder in 2014, 37 per cent did not have a prescription. Out of those 654 people, only eight per cent were classified as homeless.
In the Edmonton zone, 55 people died due to fentanyl in the period between January and September 2015, and 432 people have been rushed to hospital due to “poisoning by other opioid,” which includes fentanyl.
More information on the take-home naloxone program and the dangers associated with fentanyl can be found on Alberta Health’s website, as well as drugsfool.ca.
