New treatment available for opiod addict

New treatment available for opioid addicts

May 8, 2019 | 12:08 PM

More treatment is now available for those struggling with opioid addictions in Kelowna.

Interior Health announced that Injectable Opiod Agonist Treatment, or iOAT for short, is now available at a clinic inside the Kelowna Community Health Services Center on Doyle Avenue.

According to Interior Health, Opioid Agonist Treatment uses medications like Methadone and Suboxone to manage symptoms associated with withdrawal.

The Kelowna Clinic has been providing Oral Opioid Agonist treatment since July 2018, but the health authority admits the oral version does not work on everyone, so the addition of the injectable treatment will help treat more individuals struggling with addiction.

“This is a safe approach for those who have not had success with other treatment options,” says Interior Health Board Chair Doug Cochrane.

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“Treatment options available at the clinic in the Community Health Services Center help people stabilize physically, while offering the opportunity for staff to engage with clients, providing important service referrals and connections for treatment. These services offer hope to people who otherwise feel hopeless,” he adds in a press release statement.

For those addicts who have tried the new treatment, it provides a path towards life without opioids.

“I am able to walk down the street with less anxiety, and what is bigger is that I look back at my life and have empathy for the people that have struggled and experienced pain because of my choices to do what I have had to do just to feel normal. I see so many ways that this can benefit people… and that makes me excited that I can participate in life and think about volunteering and working and that my focus is not solely about how to get my next ‘fix’ just to cope with being alive,” said one client.

Interior Health says the Opioid Agonist Treatment is just one way they are trying to combat the opiod crisis. Expanded mental health and treatment programs , participating in the BC Take Home Naloxone program, and better surveillance to better track overdoses are some of the other ways the health authority is trying to combat the crisis.