Will involve municipal, First Nations, senior government
SUDBURY DISTRICT—As a path forward to reverse the trend that shows Northern Ontario is experiencing the highest drug toxicity mortality rates in the province due to the opioid crisis and the toxic drug supply, the board of health for Public Health Sudbury and Districts (PHSD) has directed the medical officer of health to organize a local leadership summit on the escalating drug toxicity crisis this fall.
“The intention of the summit is to bring together experts, policy makers, health care professionals, community leaders and individuals with lived and living experiences in order to share knowledge and evidence and identify best practices for early intervention and treatments of substance use disorders. And it will provide greater collaboration among organizations,” stated Danielle Whitten, a public health nurse with PHSD.
A national advisory on the opioid crisis in Canada recently reported that fewer overdose deaths and less harm is impacting Canadians who are addicted to opioids and other poisonous substances. But at the same time, national authorities said the overall scale of opioid addiction in Canada is still a serious crisis and people continue to die.
In the statement by Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer, and Dr. Yves Leger, New Brunswick acting chief medical officer of health, they commented that during 2022, 7,328 drug deaths occurred, an average of 20 people die each day of an opioid overdose across Canada.
This is less than the death count for 2021, which was a drop of nine percent fewer deaths. In 2021, there was an average of 22 people dying each day of an opioid overdose across Canada.
“While it is encouraging to see decreased rates of opioid and stimulant-related harms, the scale of these harms remains significant. We must not lose sight that behind these statistics are people whose lives were lost or threatened on account of the highly toxic and unpredictable drug supply,” states the Tam-Leger joint statement.
While there has been a dip in the national figures of opioid deaths, national opioid numbers do not reflect what has been happening in Sudbury and other parts of Northern Ontario, it was noted.
At a Board of Health (PHSD) meeting held last month, Sandra Lacle, executive director informed the board the number of overdose deaths were alarming and the situation in the Sudbury district is so urgent that she feels it warrants the need for a community summit on the opioid crisis in Northern Ontario. She told the board a collective approach is needed to look at why the numbers, rates of death and rates of addiction are consistently high in Sudbury and district along with other parts of Northeastern Ontario when compared to the rest of the province.
Ms. Lacle provided statistics of toxicity rates as far back as 2018, comparing the Sudbury health jurisdiction with the rest of Ontario. “Our rates are increasing faster, worsening as compared to Ontario or Canada as a whole,” she told the board. “These rates of drug toxicity deaths are intensifying despite the community’s best efforts. We don’t know why the rates of death are high and worsening in our area, or what puts our population at greater risk of death from opioid use.”
“In Northern communities we continue to experience opioid toxicity related deaths, almost three times those experienced in southern Ontario,” Ms. Whitten told The Expositor.
“We don’t know why the rates are so much higher. Our death rate per population is higher in the North,” said Ms. Whitten. “There are differences in the North and south,” she said, “with more physically demanding work in the resource sector such as mining and reduced social supports and social services and reduced access to mental health, treatment and addiction services. The accessibility to the toxic drug supply is increasing as well.”
“We did note that the number of deaths this year from January to February went from 75.6 per 1,000 population to 40.4 per 1,000 population, a downward trend, but from October-December (2022) they had been higher,” said Ms. Whitten. “It is definitely still a concern.”
The PHSD indicated the summit would rally local commitments to better understand and act to improve the determinants of substance use as well as map an approach to reduce harms from substance use and reduce the trend in preventable drug/opioid deaths. It was felt that the fall summit (for which a date has not yet been selected), might also be an opportunity for guest speakers and for public health and government partners to share their experiences.
Northern Ontario is experiencing the highest drug toxicity mortality rates in the province.
Earlier this year the Office of the Chief Coroner of Ontario released its update on opioid-related deaths recently and the news was not good for the Sudbury and Thunder Bay districts. In the last quarter of 2022, both districts had some of the worst statistics for opioid-related deaths.
The Chief Coroner’s Office reported that in the Sudbury and Thunder Bay districts, both recoded the highest death rates in each. Further to the national report from the Public Health Agency of Canada, new modelling projections were put forward on opioid-related deaths between now and December 2023. Under certain scenarios, between 1,430 and 2,320 people could lose their lives to opioid toxicity every three months through to the end of 2023, the report explained.
