NEW research from the Monash Addiction Research Centre has highlighted a critical shortfall in the availability of Naloxone, a life-saving medication that reverses opioid overdoses, across community pharmacies in Australia's most populous states.
Despite the Take Home Naloxone program, which has allowed Naloxone to be supplied for free without a script since 2022, nearly 40% of community pharmacies surveyed do not stock the drug.
Community pharmacies around the nation that offer opioid agonist therapies like methadone and buprenorphine are more likely to have Naloxone available.
This is the first study to evaluate Naloxone availability since the inception of the national Take Home Naloxone program, aimed at curbing the opioid crisis which has seen the number of unintentional opioid-related deaths in Australia nearly triple since 2006.
Prof Suzanne Nielsen, Deputy Director at the Monash Addiction Research Centre, stressed the importance of increasing Naloxone medication accessibility.
"With the recent increases in detections of a highly potent group of opioids, the nitazenes, in the drug market, making Naloxone accessible is more important than ever," said Prof Nielsen.
She highlighted the community pharmacy's vital role in public health, as they are "highly accessible to the public and can provide Naloxone at no cost to those at risk".
Dr Louisa Picco, a Research Fellow at the Centre, added that while it's positive that pharmacies involved in treating opioid dependence have higher Naloxone availability, there is a pressing need for all community pharmacies to embrace the national program.
She emphasised that improving access to Naloxone across all community pharmacies could significantly reduce opioid overdose fatalities.
The study, which surveyed 530 community pharmacies across Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, and Western Australia, found that only 60.6% are currently stocking Naloxone.
This still represents a significant improvement from a 2016 study, which found only 23% of community pharmacies stocked the medication.
The study continues to call for increased community awareness about the availability of Naloxone and safer use of opioids.
The research was presented at the 2024 Emerging Researcher Symposium of the Monash Addiction Research Centre. JG
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