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Photo: Drew Angerer / Getty Images / AFP
The Drug Foundation is warning New Zealand is grossly underprepared to respond to a widespread fentanyl outbreak with a limited supply of the life-saving drug Naloxone.
Over the weekend, twelve people in Wairarapa were hospitalised due to fentanyl overdoses, believing it was cocaine. Naloxone reverses an opioid overdose but needs to be administered rapidly.
The Drug Foundation says supply of the medicine is underfunded and under-resourced, a situation they describe as terrifying and baffling. Kathryn speaks with Sarah Helm, the executive director of the Drug Foundation.