London area hospitals have seen the number of people visiting their emergency rooms due to opioid overdoses nearly double over the past three years.
Figures released by the Middlesex London Health Unit to mark International Overdose Awareness Day on Wednesday show there were 1,037 overdose related ER visits across the region last year. That is up from 729 in 2020 and 545 in 2019. The number of people admitted to area hospitals because of what the health unit refers to as “opioid poisonings” rose to 127 last year, 44 more than in 2020, and 52 more than in 2019.
Opioid-related deaths in the city and county are also going up. There were 60 deaths linked to overdoses in 2019 and 101 overdose deaths in 2020. The data surrounding deaths in 2021 is not yet available, the health unit noted.
In total, the health unit received reports of 1,139 overdoses last year.
“The increases we’ve seen in emergency room visits, hospitalizations and deaths are shocking,” Dr. Alex Summers, the region’s medical officer of health, said in a statement. “International Overdose Awareness Day is an opportunity to shift our focus back to addressing these challenges. We look to join our community partners in addressing this crisis and the issues of poverty and homelessness that are linked to it.”
The health unit distributed more than 12,000 naloxone kits in 2021. Naloxone is a nasal spray that can reverse or reduce the effects of an opioid overdose. The kits are available through the health unit, Regional HIV/AIDS Connection (RHAC), and pharmacies across Ontario.
Health unit staff are spending International Overdose Awareness Day handing out support bags to those who rely on the agency’s needle-syringe program and to clients served by the outreach team. Each bag contains a reusable water bottle, a granola bar, and clean socks. A business card showing the location of both the health unit’s needle-syringe program and the location of the Carepoint supervised drug-use program at 446 York Street has also been included in each bag.
