Foreign minister Antoni Tajani is updating reporters on Thursday at the prime minister's office in Rome, on the government's progress with a pioneering national plan to fight abuse powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl, Palazzo Chigi said in a statement.
Cabinet undersecretary Alfredo Mantovano will also address the press conference which is slated for 1pm local time, the statement said.
Italy is the first European country to forge a national plan to combat abuse of synthetic opioids. The plan includes fighting "zombie drug" fentanyl, tiny quantities of which can have "devastating" effects, premier Giorgia Meloni said in March.
"The fight against drugs and all pathological addictions is a top priority of this government and we will continue to work in this direction, relentlessly and with determination," Meloni stated on 12 March.
Meloni was speaking ahead of a G7 meeting chaired by rotating president Italy on Capril in Apri at which fentanyl was on the agenda.
In November, Italian police arrested six people in a crackdown on a network that was involving in trafficking fentanyl trafficking from China to the United States, where the drug is claiming some 180 lives a day.
A UN report last year highlighted the growing use of the drug, which is sold as a painkiller, especially among young people including in Italy, who purchase it online.
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