Pubdate: Tue, 29 Aug 2017
Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON)
Copyright: 2017 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.ottawacitizen.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326
Page: A7

FAST ACTION ON OPIOID CRISIS

Hundreds of health-care workers have requested that Ontario declare a
state of emergency as a result of the opioid crisis.

Such a declaration would allow for an influx of funding - the
signatories to an open letter to Premier Kathleen Wynne asking for the
declaration estimate it should run into the millions of dollars - to
create more overdose-prevention sites, money for frontline workers and
more opioid programs.

The government would be well advised to listen; if it doesn't declare
a state of emergency, it should at least take to heart the requests
made of it and make decisions quickly.

While government mulls policy, people are dying and landing in
hospital. Ontario Health Minister Eric Hoskins has said more plans are
coming soon. It's hard to escape the sense that soon isn't soon enough.

As both Toronto and Ottawa have seen un-sanctioned pop-up
supervised-injection sites open in recent weeks, it's clear that, on
the ground, there's the feeling the government response isn't enough
and that drastic action is needed.

Whatever one's views on such sites - and it is troubling to have
unsanctioned sites operating - it's even more concerning that some
feel such a step is necessary. Meanwhile, the Sandy Hill Community
Health Centre told the Citizen's Alison Mah that it is hoping to
accelerate its own plans to open a government-approved
supervised-injection site in a matter of weeks - not in October or
November as initially planned.

In June, 135 people required hospital care for overdoses in
Ottawa.

(This isn't just Ontario, either, or the rest of Canada: Earlier this 
month, the White House panel examining the opioid crisis in the United 
States recommended that U.S. President Donald Trump declare a public 
health emergency.)

British Columbia did so, in April 2016. It allowed for the collection
of real-time data. Long on the list of complaints of those grappling
with the spate of overdoses and deaths is that Ontario isn't keeping
accurate data. At the moment, the province's most up-to-date data are
from March of this year, and show only hospitalizations and emergency
visits. Statistics on deaths are available only up to June 2016.

The Ontario government must do more - and more quickly, with or
without an emergency declaration, though, as addiction physician Dr.
Alexander Caudarella points out to The Canadian Press, it would be
symbolically powerful to all those labouring in the midst of the crisis.

The costs of under-reacting to this crisis are quite simply too high,
and will result in more dead, more devastated families and more
tragedy on our streets.

The government must do more, and do it now.

There's no time to lose.
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MAP posted-by: Matt