Life-saving naloxone kits soon available without prescription

Take-homenaloxonekits used to reverse drug overdoses will be availableatpharmacies without a prescription starting onFriday.

The kits can be used to block the deadly effects of anoverdosefrom an opioid drug such asfentanyl.

There were 69 deaths in the province fromfentanyloverdosesin the first three months of this year, Brandy Payne, associate minister of health, said at a news conference Wednesday.

The chief medical examiner's office reported274fentanyl-related deaths in Alberta in 2015.

"We encourage any Albertan who's at risk, or who lives with someone at risk, to get a kit", Payne said.

To date, more than 2,000 naloxone kits have been provided to Albertanswho are at risk of overdosing, she said.

Though tracking isdifficult because reporting is voluntary,Payne said the governmentknows that more than 120 kits have already been used to savepeople who overdosedonfentanyl.

There are 1,100 pharmacies in Alberta, of which 600 have registered to provide the kits.

Payne saidpeople should call ahead to their local pharmacy to make sure ithastake-home kits available.

"Naloxone is safe, effective and saves lives by temporarily reversing an overdose of fentanyl, allowing a person time to get emergency medical help,"Payne said.

Alberta is now the second province in Canada to offer take-home naloxone kits without a prescription. British Columbia has done sosince March 2016.

Enhanced drug treatment strategy

The province will also provide$3 million to Alberta Health Services to support the Opioid Dependency Treatment Plan Strategy.

The three-year project will expand counselling services and access to suboxone and methadone treatment in communities where the need is greatest, Payne said.

By the end of the first year, Payne said, the government expects anadditional 240Albertans will receive opioid replacement treatment, an increase of 20 per cent from the number currently being treated at AHS clinics.

Fentanyl, an opioid up to 100 times more powerful than heroin, is used as a painkiller for terminal cancer patients. But on the streets it has emerged as an Oxycontin replacement after that drug's formula was changed to make it harder to abuse.