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Fewer deaths, fewer paramedic calls and less Naloxone being distributed so far this year

Sudbury opioid surveillance numbers indicate improvements in substance abuse statistics
230322_LG_Health Unit opioid numbers
Latest numbers from Public Health and Sudbury Districts indicate some improvements in the local opioid crisis situation.

New numbers released by Public Health Sudbury and Districts (PHSD) and the Community Drug Strategy indicate that the opioid situation in the Sudbury jurisdiction is changing slightly and perhaps improving.

The latest figures indicate a slight dip in some opioid related activities.

For example, the Greater Sudbury Paramedic Services responded to 94 suspected opioid-related incidents in January and February of this year. 

For the same period last year — January and February of 2021, the paramedics reported there were 127 opioid related incidents. This is for a two-month period and the numbers are not large, but the drop is more than 25 per cent for that particular metric.

PHSD also published numbers with respect to the actual deaths that have occurred. The most recent figures, listed as preliminary data, were from January to the end of September 2021. The numbers show that 70 local residents died from an opioid-related overdose in that nine-month period. 

For the same period in 2020, there were 74 overdose deaths; January to September. This is a drop of a little more than five per cent in 2021 when compared to 2020.

The health unit described the 2021 death count as representing "a local annualized mortality rate of 34.1 deaths per 100,000 population per year, significantly higher than the comparable rate in Ontario overall, 13.7 deaths per 100,000 population per year."

For 2020, the health unit said the situation was worse.

"This represents a local annualized mortality rate of 48.1 deaths per 100,000 population per year, significantly higher than the comparable rate in Ontario overall, 15.5 deaths per 100,000 population per year."

Another improved metric that was reported is the distribution of Naloxone doses, which is a substance that can be administered to a drug user to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.

So far this year (January and February 2022) PHSD reports that 1,993 doses of Naloxone were distributed in the local health jurisdiction. This doesn't include complete pharmacy distribution data.

By comparison, for the same period in 2021, PHSD reported that 3,953 doses of Naloxone were distributed locally. 

Again this is only for a two-month period, but it represents a decrease of more than 49 per cent when comparing one year over the other. 

PHSD said the numbers were updated to March 23.

Len Gillis is a Local Journalism Reporter at Sudbury.com, covering health care in Northern Ontario. The Local Journalism Initiative is made possible with funding from the federal government.


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Len Gillis, local journalism initiative reporter

About the Author: Len Gillis, local journalism initiative reporter

Len Gillis is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter at Sudbury.com covering health care in northeastern Ontario and the COVID-19 pandemic.
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