The BC Liberals have formed a joint task force to address the dramatic increase of drug overdoses across the province.
A startling spike in overdoes fatalities – and the increasing prevalence of fentanyl – prompted Provincial Health Officer Dr. Perry Kendall to declare a public health emergency in April.
The new task force is in response to this crisis, and will “provide expert leadership and advice to the Province on additional actions to prevent and respond to overdoses,” according to a statement released Wednesday.
Kendall and Clayton Pecknold, director of police services, will lead the new initiative. Other members are being recruited from the BC Centre of Disease Control and ministries of Health and Public Safety.
"An effective collaboration with the federal government could really have major impact on reducing overdose deaths,” said Kendall in a statement. “As well, this joint task force integrates the strategies already underway and amplifies our response to this urgent crisis."
The task force also plans to create a testing service to help people ascertain if their drugs contain adulterants such as fentanyl.
Other goals include increasing public awareness on how to prevent and identify overdoses, as well as improving access to substance-use recovery programs for those who wish to stop using drugs.
According to statistics released by the BC Coroners Service in July, there were 371 deaths from illicit drug overdoses in the first half of 2016, up 74 per cent from the same time period in 2015. The number of fentanyl-detected deaths for Vancouver Island and the southern Interior from January to May this year has already exceeded the number for all of 2015.
About 60 per cent of B.C.’s overdose deaths for the first five months of 2016 involved fentanyl, up from 31 per cent last year. The drug was either found alone or, more often, in combination with other illicit drugs.
"It is extremely upsetting to see the alarming surge in overdoses we are seeing across the province,” said Health Minister Terry Lake in a statement.
“This new task force brings a multifaceted approach to tackle the crisis from both a policing and a health perspective and supports a stronger partnership with our federal government."
