Manitoba's Health Minister says he is concerned about the dangers of Fentanyl.
    
Kelvin Goertzen says the misuse of Fentanyl and Carfentanil is becoming more and more prevalent across the country.

"It is a problem in Manitoba for sure and I certainly know in other provinces you could call it a crisis because it has become so predominant," notes Goertzen.

The Health Minister says it is frightening to consider there are individuals buying and using these drugs without knowing what they are. He adds the federal Health Minister has indicated she would like to have a summit on the issue in November.

"I hope that there is a good national discussion about a national approach in terms of maybe eliminating access to those drugs but how to deal with it on a go-forward basis," he says.

One of the things Goertzen has asked his department is to come up with a plan to better distribute antidotes, such as Naloxone, a drug used to essentially reverse an overdose. He says fire departments and paramedics in Winnipeg already carry the medicine and Winnipeg Police is now looking to do the same. However, he says there is virtually none available in rural Manitoba.

"We need a provincial wide distribution system for Naloxone and so I've asked the department to come forward with that plan and I hope to have that very shortly because we've made it a priority," he says.

But the Health Minister says it's not only about providing an antidote to help with an overdose, he says there must be more discussion about getting information out there to prevent overdoses from happening. He says the misuse of drugs is not only by young people but adults too are addicted to Fentanyl and Carfentanil.

"That is always a challenge and I don't think the challenge will get easier as the years go along but it's certainly something that we have to respond to," says Goertzen.

Goertzen says his department will work with regional health authorities to gauge where to best locate the distributors. He notes using the Naloxone kit takes a little bit of training and so there is an education process to this as well.

"We want to ensure that they are being provided at the places where individuals already either have that level of knowledge of how to use it or they can be provided with that level of knowledge," says Goertzen.