Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have given consideration to making Naloxone an over-the-counter drug in England.

Naloxone has a vital role in saving lives and we are committed to widening its use in England. We have accepted the recommendation from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs to make this life-saving medicine available more widely and Departmental officials are drafting new regulations to give effect to this decision. This legislative change is due to commence in October 2015.

Public Health England has recently published advice for commissioners and providers on the provision of take-home naloxone for reversing overdose in people who use heroin and other opiates, so that commissioners and providers can take action, both now and following the October 2015 legislative change, to widen the supply of naloxone.

In addition, the issue of naloxone supply is also being considered by the independent expert group updating the 2007 drug misuse clinical guidelines, Drug Misuse and Dependence: UK Guidelines on Clinical Management.

As it is formulated as an injectable medicine, naloxone does not meet the criteria set out in legislation for classification as an over-the-counter medicine.

Amended regulations will be publicly available when they are laid before Parliament.