""We need to use every tool at our disposal, including harm reduction and treatment, to save lives," Lennox told reporters at a Queen's Park news conference on Thursday. "Overdose deaths are preventable, but we need to act. In doing so, our communities will be safer for all of us," Lennox said. "All decisions about public health need to be made with evidence and with empathy. The Ford government took away life-saving care without replacing it. Their decisions made our communities more unsafe, and their lack of a strategy is putting more people at risk.""
"According to the NDP, an average of seven Ontario residents a day died from opioid poisoning in 2024, for a total of 2,244 deaths. The Toronto Drop-in Centre Network, made up of more than 50 community agencies, reported a 288 per cent increase in overdoses at its member drop-in centres in June compared to the same month in 2023. The request comes ahead of International Overdose Awareness Day on Sunday."
Ontario NDP MPPs and community advocates are calling on the Doug Ford government to establish an emergency task force to address overdose deaths. Dr. Robin Lennox, NDP MPP for Hamilton Centre, said a task force is needed to develop and implement an overdose prevention strategy to reduce harms from a toxic drug supply. Lennox criticized the March closure of nine supervised consumption sites and said communities have felt the absence of these services. She urged the use of harm reduction and treatment, described overdose deaths as preventable, and demanded evidence- and empathy-based public health decisions. The NDP reported an average of seven Ontarians died per day from opioid poisoning in 2024 (2,244 deaths), and the Toronto Drop-in Centre Network reported a 288 per cent increase in overdoses at member drop-ins in June 2024 versus June 2023. Toronto preliminary data showed fewer confirmed opioid toxicity deaths in 2024 than in 2023, with fluctuations attributed to drug-supply toxicity.
Read at www.cbc.ca
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]