B.C. government launches phone line to provide same-day access to opioid treatment
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Monthly Digital Subscription
$1 per week for 24 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $4.00 plus GST every four weeks. After 24 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.00 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
Monthly Digital Subscription
$4.75/week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $19 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Winnipeg Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*$1 will be added to your next bill. After your 4 weeks access is complete your rate will increase by $0.00 a X percent off the regular rate.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 27/08/2024 (394 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
VANCOUVER – The British Columbia government is expanding access to drug-addiction treatment by launching a confidential and free phone line offering same-day connections to doctors and health-care professionals.
The Opioid Treatment Access Line can connect people in need with a team of doctors and nurses who are available seven-days-a-week to prescribe life-saving opioid agonist medications.
Mental Health and Addictions Minister Jennifer Whiteside says when people dealing with opioid addiction reach out for help, they need access to treatment immediately, making services such as the new phone line vital in helping those in need recover in a timely manner.
Opioid agonist treatment reduces the risk of overdose in drug users by using medications such as suboxone, methadone and slow-release oral morphine — prescribed by a trained doctor or nurse — to prevent withdrawal symptoms.
The province estimates there are at least 125,000 people living with opioid-use disorder in the province, with men working in the trades “overrepresented” in the total number of overdose deaths according to a BC Coroner’s report from 2022.
Vicky Waldron, executive director of the Construction Industry Rehabilitation Plan, says in a government statement that it can be tough for people in the construction industry to ask for help and the new phone line may remove barriers that prevent workers from getting the care they need.
The service’s cost will be covered under BC PharmaCare, and the phone line will operate from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 27, 2024.
Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version incorrectly said naloxone was being used as an agonist treatment. In fact, it is suboxone.