The Alberta government will provide an update Thursday on its work to battle the opioid crisis.
Dr. Karen Grimsrud and Dr. Elaine Hyshka, co-chairs of the Minister’s Opioid Emergency Response Commission, will provide an update on new recommendations and continued work at a news conference in Edmonton.
The news conference begins at 2 p.m.
You can watch it live here.
The commission was created in May 2017 under the Opioid Emergency Response Regulation in the Public Health Act.
The commission’s role is to oversee and implement co-ordinated actions on the opioid crisis. It is focused on harm-reduction initiatives, treatment, prevention, enforcement and supply control, collaboration, and surveillance and analytics.
In March, the commission recommended the province set up more overdose prevention sites — temporary solutions that can be federally approved with fewer requirements than safe injection sites.
Last November, the commission recommended Alberta bolster its programs that aim to reduce the growing number of people dying from overdoses. One recommended measure was to expand the distribution of naloxone kits. Naloxone is a medication that can reverse the effects of an overdose of opioids such as fentanyl, heroin, methadone or morphine.