Prince George, B.C.-  The Province has announced it is setting up a Joint Task Force on Overdose Response in an effort to  curb the  number of overdoses in  BC.

The Task Force will be headed by provincial health officer Dr. Perry Kendall and Clayton Pecknold, the Director of Police  Services.  Other members of the task force have yet to be determined, but there will be  representation from both the  BC Centre of Disease Control and the ministries of Health and Public Safety.

The Task force will  provide information  on  further action the Province can take to  prevent and respond to overdoses.

The Province is  also calling  on the Federal Government to take action on issues which  fall under Federal jurisdiction,  such as  restricting access to pill presses and tableting machines, limiting access to the materials used to make fentanyl  escalating charges for the importation and trafficking of Fentanyl and that  Canada Border Services  have  the  necessary tools to  keep the  illicit opioids from  entering BC .”An effective collaboration with the federal government could really
have major impact on reducing overdose deaths” says Dr. Kendall “As well, this joint task force integrates the strategies already underway and amplifies our response to this urgent crisis”

The number of overdose deaths in B.C. led Dr. Kendall to declare a public health emergency  in April of this year.  That  declaration  sparked the establishment of the  take home naloxone program.  Naloxone is a safe medication that  can  reverse the effects of an overdose of an opioid  and  has been used to  reverse more than 700 opioid drug overdoses since  the program was launched.  Naloxone nasal spray may soon be available in B.C. having been recently approved by Health Canada.