Arianna Danganan, Centretown News
The typical contents of naloxone kits include two vials of the medication, retractable safety needles and instructions on how to administer the drug.Naloxone, a drug used to reverse the effects of an opioid related overdose, is now available without a prescription across Canada.
After a few months of public consultations, Health Canada made the announcement March 22, in an effort to deal with the growing number of opioid overdoses.
“It’s a milestone in broader access to naloxone,” says Cynthia Horvath, who works with the Ottawa Public Health risk reduction unit.
When administered by injection, naloxone reverses the effects of opioid drugs, such as fentanyl, morphine, heroin and oxycodone.
Horvath says there are approximately 40 drug overdose deaths in Ottawa every year. Overdoses on opioid prescription drugs are responsible for about 45 per cent of these deaths.
Before Health Canada’s announcement, only people who use injection opioids had access to a naloxone kit, which includes two doses of prescription naloxone provided by Ottawa Public Health’s Peer Overdose Prevention program. Horvath says since the program began in 2012, 192 eligible people in the city were certified to use the kits.
Jordon MacLean, a social worker and a co-ordinator at Drug Users Advocacy League, says although there has been a recent shift towards harm reduction in drug policy, people should realize drugs are an issue of public health, not just law enforcement.
“It’s about treating everyone equally,” says MacLean.
Catherine Hacksel, a member of the Campaign for Safer Consumption Sites group in Ottawa, says making naloxone available without a prescription will fill a gap in Ottawa’s harm reduction strategy.
“People are going to take drugs. We might as well make it safer,” says Hacksel.
Even though her partner is in recovery from an addiction to opioids, Hacksel has not been able to access a naloxone kit because Ottawa Public Health told her she was not eligible. She says she had to organize group training sessions with people who do have access to the kits to learn how to use them because Ottawa Public Health would not train her.
But Horvath insists that before the announcement, Ottawa Public Health provided training for anyone on how to administer the drug and practice with needles.
“Preventing overdose is something we promote and we’re happy to teach folks how to do that,” she says.
Hacksel says she is looking forward to the next steps Ottawa Public Health will take to distribute naloxone from now on.
“Having a variety of options for people is good,” she says. “As long as naloxone can reach all the people that need it, that’s what’s most important.”
Following Health Canada’s announcement, Horvath says Ottawa Public Health will continue to work with their partners to increase access to this “life saving medication.”
Sean LeBlanc, the founder of Drug Users Advocacy League – an organization focused on harm reduction initiatives based in Ottawa – says he was “ecstatic” when he heard about Health Canada’s decision to make naloxone available without a prescription. But he says he is concerned that the only form of naloxone available in Ontario is injectable.
“There’s places where naloxone is available as a nasal spray,” he says.
“You can spray it under somebody’s nose which is a lot easier. If you live alone, you can’t inject yourself.”
However LeBlanc still sees Health Canada’s ruling as a “victory.”