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Comment: More training needed to combat overdoses

International Overdose Awareness Day is held on Aug. 31 as a solemn reminder of the more then 200,000 people who die worldwide each year from preventable drug-related causes.

International Overdose Awareness Day is held on Aug. 31 as a solemn reminder of the more then 200,000 people who die worldwide each year from preventable drug-related causes.

It is a day for friends, families and communities to come together to challenge the stigma that often results in the opinion that people who use drugs deserve the harms they might incur, rather than expanding access to evidence-based treatment, harm-reduction and prevention approaches.

This year, in the midst of a massive opioid-overdose epidemic, it is time for health-care providers, citizens and policy-makers to act swiftly to prevent unnecessary deaths and harms. Strengthening social-safety nets, building community resources and networks, and ensuring timely access to medical care and addiction treatment are strategies to support and treat people who use drugs.

For health-care providers, education on modern evidence-based addiction-treatment approaches is essential.

Formal training in addiction competencies has been shockingly under-represented in curriculums, as well as in post-graduate training and resources for health professionals. However, new models of interdisciplinary education will help equip health-care staff with the skills and knowledge needed to prevent overdose deaths.

At St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver, collaboration between local government and donors has allowed for the establishment of western Canada’s largest fellowship training program in addiction medicine, nursing, social work and research.

Such training gives health-care providers skill in safer prescribing to prevent addiction, as well as how to intervene and treat addiction early.

For policymakers at all levels, long-term visions to address health inequities — such as expanding access to safe, affordable housing and reducing childhood poverty — are integral to addressing the overdose crisis.

Additionally, implementing evidence-informed strategies for substance-use disorders includes repealing Bill C-2, the federal Respect for Communities Act, which stands in the way of life-saving strategies such as supervised injection sites, which are central to addressing our national overdose crisis. Unfortunately, last week, the federal government decided against repealing the legislation, despite outcries from public-health experts and communities across Canada.

In British Columbia alone, coinciding with the emergence of fentanyl, there has been a 74 per cent increase in overdose deaths since last year, and the provincial government has declared the overdose crisis to be a public-health emergency.

Meanwhile, supervised injection sites such as Insite have intervened in thousands of drug overdoses without a single death, and yet Canadian legislation continues to stand in the way of this life-saving model of care being implemented in other communities.

We have the opportunity to change the landscape of overdose deaths in our country. It is time to treat substance-use disorders with the seriousness and respect we do other chronic illnesses.

Under no other circumstances would a society permit so many deaths and impede access to proven successful treatments and prevention interventions.

Christina Chant is a registered nurse and master of nursing student. Pauline Voon is a registered nurse and research associate at the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS. Cheyenne Johnson is a registered nurse, clinical and research lead at the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS and director of the St. Paul’s Goldcorp Addiction Nursing Fellowship.