Health Minister Terry Lake says the latest statistics show overdose fatalities in the province are increasing instead of slowing down.
Lake says an update released today by health officer Dr. Perry Kendall finds overdose deaths are averaging 64 per month so far this year, compared to 40 a month last year.
He says fentanyl-involved deaths have jumped to 49 per cent from less than a third in 2015.
Last month, B.C. became the first province in Canada to declare a public health emergency over the sharp rise in overdose deaths, a move aimed at speeding information gathering in order to warn users and provide help.
