While communities across B.C. are dealing with the scourge of an opioid and fentanyl crisis, new numbers show Burnaby is far from immune to the emergency.
In 2016, as of Dec. 1, there have been 29 illicit drug overdose deaths in Burnaby, with 14 linked to the drug fentanyl, according to the B.C. Coroners Service.
Last year, there were 16 overdose deaths recorded in the city. Smaller communities like Abbotsford and Langley are seeing similar numbers.
Speaking to the media Monday, chief coroner Lisa Lapointe suggested illicit drugs are becoming increasingly unpredictable, adding the epidemic is affecting every community and people from all walks of life.
“We are seeing deaths everywhere,” she said.
In November, there were 128 overdose deaths across the province, and December isn’t expected to get any better. Last week, in one day 11 people died of drug overdoses in B.C. The latest numbers show fentanyl being detected in about 60 per cent of all overdose deaths this year.
“People who are dying are the people who are using without supervision and without medical help nearby,” Lapointe said.
To help fight the problem, the Ministry of Health has activated a provincial cold-weather strategy in the hardest-hit communities to prevent overdoses. Part of that effort includes setting up 18 overdose prevention sites by the end of December in high-risk areas, including Vancouver, Surrey, Maple Ridge, Langley and Abbotsford. While the sites provide a safe place for people using drugs to be monitored in case of overdose, there isn’t one planned for Burnaby at this point.
Fraser Health’s chief medical health officer Victoria Lee explained the prevention sites are aimed at communities considered to be at high risk, which is defined by the number of overdose deaths per 100,000 people.
For example, the overdose death rate in Maple Ridge is 30 per 100,000 people, compared to 10 per 100,000 in Burnaby.
“The reason we have focused on the highest risk communities is because of the stark differences in not only the deaths in terms of numbers but the rate per 100,000, as well as increases that we’ve seen over the years,” Lee told the NOW.
Health authority officials point out that regional strategies to deal with the crisis, including harm reduction services, are still being implemented in communities, including Burnaby.
In Burnaby, the primary community provider is the Lower Mainland Purpose Society, which runs the Stride with Purpose Mobile Health that provides service across the community.
Meanwhile, harm-reduction supplies are available at the New Westminster and Burnaby health units and youth clinics.
Lee said it is possible Burnaby could get a prevention site, if the health authority sees more people affected or dying from overdoses.
“We’re monitoring the situation in Burnaby very closely, and we’ll be following up with additional strategies if it’s necessary,” she said.
A press release from the province noted more than $43 million in funding is supporting measures that bolster the provincewide response to the crisis. The release also said that in the past three years, health authorities have opened 300 new substance-use beds as part of a commitment to open 500 new beds in the province.
But Sue Hammell, the NDP’s spokesperson on mental health and addictions, said not enough is being done when it comes to getting people into treatment and out of the cycle of addiction.
“While we’re doing a lot around harm reduction, we’re not doing enough around treatment,” she said, while criticizing the province for not yet meeting the 500-bed commitment.
The NDP MLA argued treatment and prevention are just as important, and that a robust treatment and prevention system that warns people of the danger of recreational drug taking right now is needed.
Fraser Health officials noted the authority is on track to add 100 additional substance abuse treatment beds for the region in 2017.
