Experts are calling for free nasal naloxone across B.C. as results of pilot project uncertain
From training thousands of students how to use injection Naloxone, Chloe Goodison has noticed how difficult it can be for her to administer it – even when exercising.
Students express concerns that their hands will shake or that they will forget steps, that they are afraid of needles, or that they will do something wrong. Overdose prevention in administering medication.
“They’ll turn to us and say, ‘I don’t think I could do this in an emergency,'” said Goodison, founder of Naloxhome overdose prevention training.
Even though she has trained others in it countless times over the past four years, she would prefer not to use injectable naloxone.
In her bag, she keeps a small white nasal spray – a dose that can be easily inserted through one’s nose to prevent an overdose.
Although nasal naloxone is free Quebec, Ontario, Yukon and Northwest TerritoriesMost residents of B.C. Has paid of – BC pharmacies typically charge about $75 or $80 for a two-dose box.
“For me, it’s worth it to take it, even if it’s more expensive,” Goodison said.
“Nasal naloxone is very easy to use.”
Politicians, experts and harm reduction advocates are calling for nasal naloxone to be made free for everyone in BC – as it is in other provinces – as they say providing a more accessible option for the general public could make a difference in saving lives amid the toxic drug crisis.
While the province has explored widespread distribution of the spray for free as a pilot program, Health Minister Josie Osborne says has not completed the evaluation of the pilot program that was supposed to be completed this summer.
Emphasis on making nasal naloxone free and widely available injection Naloxone, accelerating the following fatal overdose Sydney McIntyre-Starco, student at Victoria University, in January 2024.
Danya Fast is Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia While those who research young people who use substances say intramuscular naloxone is most useful for health care workers and first responders, she sees the nasal spray as a more accessible tool for the general public.
“Making nasal naloxone universally available to young people – and ensuring all youth know what it is, how to use it, when to use it and what happens when you use it – would be a really important life-saving step in this province,” he said.
Through a pilot program launched in May 2024, BC made a one-time public purchase of 60,000 nasal naloxone kits – paying approximately $123.50 per kit.
Fifty thousand of these two-dose kits were sent to pharmacies across the province People in “priority populations”:”People living in cold climates or others who may have difficulty with syringes, youth who may experience overdose, and Indigenous peoples.
it Extended to July 2025 Additional kits were not purchased, however, to include anyone at risk of experiencing or witnessing an overdose.
Trevor Botkin, manager of industry relations for the Construction Foundation of BC, says a nasal form of naloxone — a drug that helps reverse opioid overdoses — will help people with an aversion to needles. Botkin says the use of needle-based naloxone kits can also be problematic for construction workers who have dirt on their hands.
The remaining naloxone was sent as a one-time resource to post-secondary institutions and other public agencies across the province.
This January, when setting priorities As Osborne took over as Health Minister, Premier David Abbey urged him to continue expanding access to nasal naloxone.
For Claire Ratey, BC Conservative MLA and critic for mental health and addictions, making nasal naloxone widely available to the general public is “no easy task.”
He asked Osborn about the pilot program during a committee meeting in April, and whether BC is considering making nasal naloxone widely available to the general public.
Osborne said his ministry wants to evaluate the first year of the pilot program.
“That evaluation should be done by the end of the summer,” Osborn said.
However, when asked by CBC News in mid-November, the minister said the evaluation was still “being completed” and did not say whether she would support making nasal naloxone free for the general public.
“Nasal naloxone has a really important role to play, and it’s absolutely true that it’s easier to access for many people,” he said.
“I’ll have more to share about this soon.”
The BC Center for Disease Control, which is overseeing the pilot, said it is “a little early” to share the data, and did not respond to further questions from CBC News.
Caroline McIntyre, An emergency physician whose daughter Sydney died of a fatal overdose prompted more calls for accessible nasal naloxone.say that their experience with the pilot program showed that it did not go far enough in providing take-home kits to areas where the targeted population, particularly young people, need them most.
Despite not meeting the eligibility requirements, she says she was able to get nasal naloxone for free at several pharmacies in Vancouver, and was generally not asked data-collection questions.
The student committees of the University of BC and Victoria University say they did not receive any kits to distribute from the province.
The coroner’s investigation into the overdose death of 18-year-old UVic student Sydney McIntyre-Starko released its findings Thursday. The investigative jury is demanding action at multiple levels, from government ministries and universities to 911 dispatchers. Karin Larsen has the details.
“The government purchased that nasal naloxone at a time when they were getting a lot of bad press… I believe they ultimately created the pilot project so they could delay making nasal naloxone available to people in BC who prefer it instead of an injection,” McIntyre said.
Some pharmacies are still offering free nasal naloxone while supplies last, but Fast says officials should work to make it more widely available.
“This is something we can do right now,” Fast said.
“When there’s a real demand for something from young people, from families, those are the interventions we really want to prioritize.”
