P.E.I.
's chief public health officer says the province has decided to pause the establishment of a supervised injection site and instead prioritize strengthening its existing harm reduction initiatives. Dr. Heather Morrison appeared before the standing committee on health and social development on Wednesday to provide an update on the province's implementation of supervised consumption sites.
Morrison said P.E.I.
has been working on a range of harm reduction measures, including mental health and addiction treatment programs, prevention efforts and overdose response initiatives and these strategies appear to be making a difference. "It looks like existing actions appear to be preventing..
. further increases in opioid-related overdose deaths in P.E.
I. and at this time, government will focus on these measures rather than an overdose prevention site," she told the committee. Narcan, or naloxone, is medication that can reverse the effects of an overdose.
(CBC) In her presentation, Morrison shared data on opioid-related deaths. In 2023, P.E.
I. recorded seven accidental acute opioid toxicity deaths, with a crude rate of 4.0 deaths per 100,000 people.
By comparison, Canada as a whole saw 8,232 deaths, with a crude rate of 20.5 per 100,000. For 2024, data is only available up to June, showing six accidental opioid deaths so far.
Morrison said while the full numbers for the year aren't in yet, she does not expect a significant change, meaning 2024 is on track for a slight decrease from.
