Opioid deaths rise in 2019
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Thirty-three people are believed to have died as a result of opioid overdoses in the first 11 months of 2019, according to figures compiled by the Brant County Health Unit.
The deaths are labelled “suspected” because their cause must be confirmed by the Office of the Chief Coroner of Ontario.
Still, the number represents an increase from 2018 when 21 people died of opioid overdoses. There were 25 such deaths in 2017.
“It’s a concern when you see an increase in opioid-related deaths in a community,” Dr. Elizabeth Urbantke, Brant County’s medical officer of health, said in an interview Tuesday.
“We don’t have a lot of data to look at right now but we believe at least some of the increase can be traced back to the spring and the use of carfentanil here in Brantford and in other areas, as well.”
Use of cartentanil and fentanyl over the past few years is cited as a reason behind a spike in opioid deaths. Fentanyl is 40 times more potent than heroin, while carfentanil is 100 times more potent than fentanyl. Carfentanil is so powerful that quantities as small as a grain of sand can be lethal.
On a single weekend at the end of March in Brantford, there were six overdoses that resulted in three deaths. Multiple overdoses also were reported in several other southwestern Ontario communities, including Lambton, Middlesex and Oxford counties.
Meanwhile, figures provided by the health unit show the number of people visiting the emergency room at Brantford General Hospital for opioid overdoses rose to 150 for the first 11 months of 2019 from 119 in all of 2018.
And the number of naloxone kits handed out between Jan. 1 and Nov. 30, 2019, rose to 4,436, up from the 3,678 handed out for all of 2018. Naloxone is a drug that helps reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.
“I think what those figures show is that people are becoming aware of the importance of having naloxone kits available and getting someone who has overdosed to the emergency room,” Urbantke said.
Most of the naloxone kits distributed in the community last year were handed out by pharmacies, according to the health unit.
Emergency medical services, however, responded to 118 opioid overdoses during the first 11 months of last year, down from 139 in all of 2018.
Following a spate of opioid overdoses in the community in 2017, the city launched the Brantford-Brant Community Drug Strategy. Among other things, the strategy aims to reduce or delay substance use through a range of efforts including harm reduction and education.
As well, the strategy aims to keep individuals safe and healthy and ensure they have access to timely and adequate services.
Meanwhile, treatment for addictions is available through a number of agencies and locations including the Rapid Access Addiction Medicine Clinic on Colborne Street. In addition, a residential substance withdrawal and treatment centre, operated by St. Leonard’s Community Services, opened in September.
“It’s important to recognize that the opioid crisis took a long time to build up and it’s going to take us a long time to bring it under control,” Urbantke said. “It’s not the kind of problem that can be solved quickly.
“It’s going to take a lot of work and there is a lot being done locally to address the problem.”
She noted that a lot of community agencies are working collaboratively to address the problem but it will take time.
The figures on opioid overdoses can be found on the health unit’s website at www.bchu.org .
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