The Future of Canada’s Opioid: How is the Canadian government dealing with this issue?
More overdoses and deaths caused by the misuse of opioid drugs
Key Actors:
- Ministry of Health
Background
Opioid is a drug with pain relieving properties, originally prescribed to treat chronic and acute pain, moderate to severe diarrhea, and moderate to severe coughs. Opioid drugs can come in different forms like syrup, tablets, and capsules. Some commonly known types are fentanyl, oxycodone, morphine, codeine and heroin.
The side effects of opioids include euphoria, which is the primary reason why it is highly addictive. The addiction trend is parallel to the rise of opioid substance abuse, which makes it a severe problem. More and more people have gradually become hooked to these drugs; its high demand has resulted in increased frequency of illegal production and obtainment.
Opioids’ Effects on Canada’s Health Care System
Canada’s opioid epidemic has taken a notable toll on Canada’s health system. The crisis has become increasingly problematic; there are more victims visiting the hospital because of opioid substance abuse, and the number of overdoses daily has taken a sharp turn upwards. New data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) shows that the number of emergency visits and hospitalizations continue to rise.
“If you just look at the numbers, you can see the impact of the opioid crisis is increasing,” says David O’Toole, president and CEO of CIHI. “There are more patients being seen in emergency departments, more patients being hospitalized, and the lengths of stay for hospitalizations are quite long — it all adds to the burden.”
From the CIHI’s research, the fastest-growing rates of hospitalization due to opioid poisoning were for those age 15 – 24. As street drugs are more prevalent in cities and suburbs, it is more accessible to the younger generation than it was 10 or 20 years ago.
Canada’s Response
As the Opioid Crisis is becoming more potent, addressing this national health crisis is a top priority for Canada’s Ministry of Health. Under the Joint Statement of Action to Address the Opioid Crisis, the Government of Canada is committed to a targeted public health emergency response, pledging to deliver four key actions: prevention, treatment, harm reduction, and enforcement.
For the prevention aspect, the Ministry of Health plans to deliver proper prescribing practices and better inform Canadians about the risks of opioids. For treatment, the Ministry of Health have several goals such as improving access to medication-assisted treatments for opioid-use disorder and expanding the treatment options for pain management. As for harm reduction which also ties very closely with prevention, the Ministry of Health intends to establish supervised consumption sites and facilitate access to naloxone, a drug which can temporarily suppress the side-effects of opioid drugs. For enforcement, the Ministry of Health will pursue legislative changes to better control substance and equipments.
Statistics
- 16 – Average number of opioid poisoning resulting in hospitalization each day in Canada
- 53% increase in rate for opioid poisoning over the past 10 years in Canada
Bibliography
Ubelacker, Sheryl. “The inside History of Canada’s Opioid Crisis.” Macleans.ca, Macleans.ca, 25 Apr. 2017, www.macleans.ca/society/inside-the-history-of-canadas-opioid-crisis/.
Russell, Andrew. “Are Opioid Deaths Reducing Our Average Life Expectancy? Canada Now Investigating.” Global News, Global News, 18 July 2018, globalnews.ca/news/4338272/opoid-deaths-canada-life-expectancy/.
“Opioid Crisis Having ‘Significant’ Impact on Canada’s Health Care System | CIHI.” Access Data and Reports | CIHI, 4 July 2018, www.cihi.ca/en/opioid-crisis-having-significant-impact-on-canadas-health-care-system.
“FCM – The Opioid Crisis: City-Based Solutions.” FCM.ca, fcm.ca/home/issues/emergency-preparedness-and-response/the-opioid-crisis.htm.
Canada, Health. “About Opioids.” Canada.ca, 9 Apr. 2018, www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/substance-abuse/prescription-drug-abuse/opioids/about.html.