Drug harm reduction
Aiv PUGLIELLI (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:09): (330) My question is to the Minister for Mental Health. Fentanyl is already being detected on the streets of Melbourne, lacing drugs like heroin and cocaine. It is much more potent than heroin, and people who overdose with fentanyl have reportedly only around 3 minutes to be revived. We could be potentially about to see a huge increase in drug overdose deaths as fentanyl hits the streets. These are preventable deaths, but if someone is treated with naloxone, a drug that reverses opioid overdoses, their life can be saved. It is actually quite a safe drug. It is widely carried in the US because it is life-saving. It is like having a fire extinguisher or a defibrillator, easily accessible when it is needed. But right now people are finding it almost impossible to source naloxone due to supply issues and other barriers, some legislative, some regulatory, some being federal government, some state government. Minister, what is the state government doing to help improve access to and supply of naloxone in Melbourne?
Ingrid STITT (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Mental Health, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (12:09): I thank Mr Puglielli for his question. This is an important area, and again it is important that we are looking at ways that we can minimise the impact of drug harm on Victorians. As members would be aware and probably recall, we did change the legislation in 2020 so that naloxone can be more readily available, and that is really about making sure that we have got other options available for treating overdose, including from fentanyl. Of course this particular treatment does reverse the effect of opioid drugs like heroin, morphine and fentanyl, and it can be administered quite easily through a nasal spray. It is well understood that it is also proven to be safe if you are not actually suffering from an opioid overdose and you get treated with it. There are a number of different benefits to using this as one of the measures, and that is why we legislated to make it more readily available. I am aware that there are some issues at the moment with global supply chains of this drug, so we have been working with the Commonwealth government on trying to open up those supply chains. The advice that I have got is that there was a shipment due to arrive in Australia around 12 October and it is in the process of being distributed to wholesalers. The department has advised me that they expect that full stock will be back in circulation later in November.
Aiv PUGLIELLI (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:12): I thank the minister for that response. Definitely something I am sure we can all agree on here is that no-one should be alone to die in the street when their death could have been prevented. Particularly hearing some notes around supply there was very useful, thank you. People who are most likely to come across an opioid overdose are caseworkers, police, other drug users and friends and family of drug users. If they were carrying naloxone as a matter of course, countless overdoses could be avoided. Currently state government regulations mean that either the hoops to jump through to carry naloxone inhibit these people from accessing it or, quite simply, they are not even enabled to carry it, as I understand is currently the case with police. Minister, will the state government reform regulations that inhibit key community members from accessing and carrying naloxone?
Ingrid STITT (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Mental Health, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (12:13): I thank Mr Puglielli for his supplementary question. That is not quite the advice that I have got on the ability for other authorised workers and other members of the community to be able to administer this drug, and that was one of the issues that was dealt with when we changed the legislation. The advice that I have got on that is that once those supply issues are resolved then the Department of Health expects to be immediately rolling out the take-home naloxone program, which does actually have a list of approved workers who are able to carry and administer this particular drug, and it includes the ability of carers, families or friends of people who use opioids to be able to administer naloxone as well.