Public health, 46th Ward launch Narcan ‘newsstands’ in Uptown

Newspaper kiosks in Chicago organize a return, but they will not wear newspapers. This time, the mission is different. It’s about saving lives.

The Chicago Department of Public Health, in partnership with the 46th Ward, is launching an initiative to distribute naloxone – a medication on emergency opioid overdose known as the Narcan – through reused newspaper kiosks.

The Department of Health and City Managers unveiled the company during a misdeed reduction fair outside the location of the family and support department at 845 W. Wilson Ave. Wednesday afternoon.

Sunday, announced from the International Day for A awareness of the overdose, the initiative consists of four kiosks with Narcan newspapers to start, installed in various places at the Uptown.

The idea is to make the fight against overdose of opioids more accessible, more time.

“We want to make sure that everyone here in Uptown and around Chicago has access to vital medicines,” said Mayor Brandon Johnson during Wednesday. He was joined by ALD. Angela Clay, 46th, CDPH commissioner Olusimbo IGE, DFSS commissioner Angela Green and local health suppliers to start newspaper kiosks.

The project has been underway for almost a year, according to Eleana Molise, director of house and community services for the 46th district. It was born from a conversation between the district office and the health service, where the question of the way Narcan is accessible in the community and how this access could be extended, said Molise.

The Department of Health Stock Narcan already in the 81 branches of the Chicago Public Library. But the libraries closed, said Molise.

“We wanted to see if there was a creative solution around that,” she said.

Narcan newsstands are accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They are located outside Nourishing Hope, 3945 N. Sheridan RD; Cornerstone Community Shelter, 4628 N. Clifton Ave., The Institute of Cultural Affairs, 4750 N. Sheridan RD.; And the location of the DFSS Uptown on Wilson Ave newsstands. Was strategically placed in areas with high pedestrian traffic and near the populations that may require Narcan, said Molise.

For next year, the 46th Ward Office will follow how the Narcan newsstands distribute. Thereafter, they hope to share this data with the wider community, ultimately in the hope that the initiative can be extended to other parts of the city, said Molise.

The 46th Ward Office, alongside the Health Department, has deployed the stands in the past two weeks. So far, they have distributed nearly 300 boxes of Narcan, said Molise. Wednesday’s event was staged to raise awareness.

“At a time in our country where people are fighting … Today, we are celebrating a vital intervention, where people say:” I will help. I will be a problem solver. I will be part of the solution, ”said IgE.

Last year, the number of overdose deaths of opioids in the county of Cook dropped spectacular compared to 2023, a decline of the county declared that it was a testimony of measures that the health of the county of Cook had launched, in particular efforts to distribute Naloxone.

In Chicago, after Opioid EMS calls go from 3,000 a year in 2015 to more than 13,000 in 2020, data show that calls have been decreasing in recent years, according to CDPH. In the first six months of 2025, Opioid EMS calls are down 24% compared to the same period last year, according to the health service.

With newly launched newspaper kiosks, “we just add another layer to this commitment, which says in a very real way, each life deserves to be saved and fights,” said a crowd of around 75 people on Wednesday.

Ald. Clay called the “historic moment for our community”.

After watching the crowd’s announcement, the native of West Side, Kimberly McIntosh, 57, said that she used to fight dependence, noting that she had almost overdose eight times.

McIntosh attended the Wednesday fair and to reveal to network and bring the news of the community that she could transmit to someone who could have trouble, as she did in the past.

Seeing the resources made available “brought me joy,” she said. But that also recalled that there is still work to do. “It gave me something to think,” she said. “It let me know that the disease is still there.”

tkenny@chicagogne.com

Originally published: August 27, 2025 at 9:45 p.m. CDT