Author of the article:Lisa Johnson
Publishing date:Oct 15, 2021 •
Participants in International Overdose Awareness Day march through Edmonton on Aug. 31, 2021. PHOTO BY DAVID BLOOM /Postmedia
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Edmonton-area doctors are commemorating the lives lost in a spike of drug poisonings in Alberta by speaking out against the stigma related to drug use and calling for more access to services that address it.
On Friday, volunteers placed purple ribbons in neighbourhoods where an opioid death has occurred for Opioid Awareness Weekend, including in Edmonton, Wetaskiwin, and Ponoka.
Dr. Ginetta Salvalaggio, co-chairwoman of the Edmonton Zone Medical Staff Association’s opioid poisoning committee, said at a virtual availability that doctors are seeing an ongoing escalation of overdose deaths in the Edmonton Zone.
“Every poisoning death is a preventable tragedy. We want that acknowledged by decision-makers,” said Salvalaggio, who said the people who do not survive tend to be those who are most isolated and alone.
“The stigma around this needs to end,” she said.
The latest data from the Alberta government shows that between January and July of this year, 898 Albertans have died of an accidental drug poisoning. Of those, 821 deaths have been from an opioid poisoning.
This marks a 22 per cent increase over the same time period in 2020, which saw 735 accidental drug poisonings.
Dr. Cayla Gilbert, a rural family physician, echoed the need to address and break down the stigma around drug use, saying the problem is “ubiquitous” across both rural and urban areas.
“This is something that is happening in everyone’s backyard,” she said.
She said Albertans need access to timely data so health-care professionals can respond to the crisis, an expansion of access to safe consumption services, and better access to safe supply.
“We want more data … we want more understanding and more willingness to address that in our province,” said Gilbert.
The province stopped reporting neighbourhood-level overdose data in its quarterly drug poisoning reports in 2020, when the number of overdose deaths in the city core far surpassed every other area of the city. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has been critical of harm reduction services , and his government has been largely focused on building up addictions treatment and recovery spaces.
In April, the Boyle Street Community Services supervised consumption services were closed permanently, redirecting users to other facilities.
“We know that when we closed that central site … we saw a spike in overdose deaths, in poisoning deaths,” Salvalaggio said.
Last Friday, the provincial government announced it is looking at opening a new safe consumption site in the Strathcona area, although it is still in the early stages of planning. Salvalaggio said she applauded the decision to look at the new site, but called for reinstating and expanding existing services north of the river because people cannot travel far distances to access services.
When asked what neighbourhood-level data the provincial government has to suggest that Strathcona is in more urgent need of a new supervised consumption site than the downtown core, Eric Engler, press secretary to mental health and addictions associate minister Mike Ellis, said Friday in a statement that he “rejected the premise” of the question.
“Nobody is stating that anywhere in Edmonton is more in need of services than Downtown where the shelters are centralized. Downtown currently has two community supervised consumption sites that are not at capacity. It is clear there is an unmet need south of the river and so that is the first location being considered for expansion to meet the geographic need,” said Engler, adding that anyone using substances at home alone is encouraged to download the Digital Overdose Response System (DORS).
The app became available in Edmonton last week and aims to curb overdoses by alerting emergency medical services if a user is unresponsive.
Article content
Edmonton-area doctors are commemorating the lives lost in a spike of drug poisonings in Alberta by speaking out against the stigma related to drug use and calling for more access to services that address it.
On Friday, volunteers placed purple ribbons in neighbourhoods where an opioid death has occurred for Opioid Awareness Weekend, including in Edmonton, Wetaskiwin, and Ponoka.
Dr. Ginetta Salvalaggio, co-chairwoman of the Edmonton Zone Medical Staff Association’s opioid poisoning committee, said at a virtual availability that doctors are seeing an ongoing escalation of overdose deaths in the Edmonton Zone.
“Every poisoning death is a preventable tragedy. We want that acknowledged by decision-makers,” said Salvalaggio, who said the people who do not survive tend to be those who are most isolated and alone.
“The stigma around this needs to end,” she said.
The latest data from the Alberta government shows that between January and July of this year, 898 Albertans have died of an accidental drug poisoning. Of those, 821 deaths have been from an opioid poisoning.
This marks a 22 per cent increase over the same time period in 2020, which saw 735 accidental drug poisonings.
Dr. Cayla Gilbert, a rural family physician, echoed the need to address and break down the stigma around drug use, saying the problem is “ubiquitous” across both rural and urban areas.
“This is something that is happening in everyone’s backyard,” she said.
She said Albertans need access to timely data so health-care professionals can respond to the crisis, an expansion of access to safe consumption services, and better access to safe supply.
“We want more data … we want more understanding and more willingness to address that in our province,” said Gilbert.
The province stopped reporting neighbourhood-level overdose data in its quarterly drug poisoning reports in 2020, when the number of overdose deaths in the city core far surpassed every other area of the city. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has been critical of harm reduction services , and his government has been largely focused on building up addictions treatment and recovery spaces.
In April, the Boyle Street Community Services supervised consumption services were closed permanently, redirecting users to other facilities.
“We know that when we closed that central site … we saw a spike in overdose deaths, in poisoning deaths,” Salvalaggio said.
Last Friday, the provincial government announced it is looking at opening a new safe consumption site in the Strathcona area, although it is still in the early stages of planning. Salvalaggio said she applauded the decision to look at the new site, but called for reinstating and expanding existing services north of the river because people cannot travel far distances to access services.
When asked what neighbourhood-level data the provincial government has to suggest that Strathcona is in more urgent need of a new supervised consumption site than the downtown core, Eric Engler, press secretary to mental health and addictions associate minister Mike Ellis, said Friday in a statement that he “rejected the premise” of the question.
“Nobody is stating that anywhere in Edmonton is more in need of services than Downtown where the shelters are centralized. Downtown currently has two community supervised consumption sites that are not at capacity. It is clear there is an unmet need south of the river and so that is the first location being considered for expansion to meet the geographic need,” said Engler, adding that anyone using substances at home alone is encouraged to download the Digital Overdose Response System (DORS).
The app became available in Edmonton last week and aims to curb overdoses by alerting emergency medical services if a user is unresponsive.
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