Opioid use in Sudbury & District (Motion #12-17)

Moved by Lemieux – Meikleham. Approved by the Sudbury & District Board of Health, February 16, 2017.

WHEREAS the Sudbury & District Board of Health is alarmed by the rise in opioid-related harms as evidenced by a tripling of the number of opioid prescriptions in Canada over the past decade and the growing number of opioid-related poisonings presenting to Ontario emergency departments; and

WHEREAS within Greater Sudbury indicators of harmful opioid use exceed those for the province, including the rates of opioid users, opioid maintenance therapy use, high strength opioid use, opioid-related emergency department visits, hospital visits and hospital deaths; and

WHEREAS federal and provincial governments have signed a Joint Statement of Action committed to addressing the burden of opioid-related harms in Canada and, recently, Ontario announced a provincial opioid strategy that includes modernizing opioid prescribing and monitoring, improving the treatment of pain and enhancing addiction supports and harm reduction; and

WHEREAS the Community Drug Strategy for the City of Greater Sudbury, of which the Sudbury & District Health Unit is a leading member, supports Ontario’s opioid strategy and is committed to implementing the strategy within the local context;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED the Sudbury & District Board of Health congratulate the Ontario Minister of Health and Long-Term Care and the Chief Medical Officer of Health, as the province’s first Provincial Overdose Coordinator, and request that the new provincial plan be further developed with targets, deliverables and timelines that are supported by regular communication to stakeholders and partners such as boards of health; and

FURTHER THAT the Sudbury & District Board of Health urge the federal Minister of Health to similarly communicate and promptly implement the federal opioid strategy.

CARRIED

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This item was last modified on February 21, 2017