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The Ontario government has launched a website detailing the troubling trend of opioid use and the subsequent deaths that have occurred. While the province hopes this new information will be used to find a solution, the City of Hamilton has already been working on a plan using its own site that was launched earlier this year.
According to the province’s new data site, the total of opioid-related deaths in 2016 may surpass the amount in 2015. The site also indicates that in 2015 Hamilton and Niagara had the highest rate of emergency room visits in Ontario.
Hamilton launched a similar monitoring system in 2017.
“We’ve seen 113 cases so we’re already up this year. But the one promising thing is that between March and April, we’ve seen about a 30% decrease in opioid use,” said EMS paramedic Russell Crocker.
In order to keep those numbers falling, the city is waiting on the Federal government to hand over about $2.7 million for added resources. Mayor Fred Eisenberger says that money will go to crisis beds and harm reduction programs including a potential safe injection site.
With the end of the month just over a week away, Hamilton has recorded 13 opioid-related emergency room visits, if that stays where it is, it would be the lowest number so far this year.
