Echoing what harm reduction workers in Vancouver have been doing for over a year, Island Health has finally made fentanyl test strips available for people using substances.
Dr. Murray Fyfe, medical health officer with Island Health, said the strips are not 100 per cent accurate, but are a step in the right direction to potentially reduce the amount of drugs people are using and ensure those supplies are safer.
B次元官网网址淲hat weB次元官网网址檙e talking about here is having strips that can be used by a person to test a small fraction of their drugs to ensure or determine whether or not they have fentanyl in them,B次元官网网址� Fyfe explained.
B次元官网网址淭he test takes only about five minutes. The information they get from this will help them to determine whether they should reduce the amount of substances theyB次元官网网址檙e taking, or maybe not use that particular batch at all.B次元官网网址�
In addition to being distributed to overdose prevention sites in Victoria, 10,000 test strips will be dispersed to sites in Duncan, Nanaimo, Port Alberni, Courtenay and Campbell River. The strips are free to people checking drugs while at an overdose prevention or supervised consumption site, but will cost the province $1 each.
test strips now available at overdose prevention sites, says
B次元官网网址� Victoria B次元官网网址 (@VictoriaB次元官网网址)
B次元官网网址淭his has been run as a pilot project in Vancouver over the past year and what itB次元官网网址檚 shown is that for people who are using the test strips that they do tend to reduce the amount of drugs theyB次元官网网址檙e using if it does test positive for fentanyl,B次元官网网址� Fyfe said.
Insite, a supervised injection site in VancouverB次元官网网址檚 downtown eastside, has seen very positive results with the project, he said of the reduction in overdoses.
At Island Health overdose prevention sites between December 2016 and Dec. 2 this year, there were 66,200 visits, 579 overdoses and zero deaths.
Sophie Bannar-Martin, manager of STOP HIV and Bloodborne Diseases B次元官网网址� a division of Island Health B次元官网网址� said the health authority will evaluate the effectiveness of the test strips and hopes to see similar positive results as Vancouver.
B次元官网网址淭he fear is still quite high,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 exceptionally unfortunate that weB次元官网网址檙e two years into this crisis and the number of deaths has not reduced.B次元官网网址�
The hope is that the strips will also engage people not currently accessing supervised consumption services, drawing them in so they can use in a monitored environment, she added. B次元官网网址淚 think understandably people are scared and they are dealing with a poisoned drug supply.B次元官网网址�
Part of Island HealthB次元官网网址檚 assessment will involve collecting information from the perspective of those with lived experience to help inform VIHAB次元官网网址檚 responses to the overdose crisis going forward.
Through the end of October, 1,208 people had died this year from drug overdoses in B.C., including 198 on Vancouver Island.
In general, 87 per cent of all drug overdoses have occurred indoors. With that in mind, Island Health is working on making the strips more widely available in the community.
