Fentanyl continuing to kill Albertans

Report finds more than one death per day in province due to narcotic

Fentanyl overdoses killed 119 more Albertans during the second quarter of the year as the province remained beset by a high rate of more than one death per day to the illicit narcotic, a new report shows.

The latest toll, revealed Wednesday in health ministry’s new quarterly analysis of the opioid crisis, was significantly higher than the 85 fatal overdoses recorded in the same three months of 2016.

Nonetheless, health officials said they were relieved to see no significant increase of numbers in the deadly trend. The report showed the death toll remained stable through the fall, winter and spring, with about 120 fentanylrelated fatalities recorded in each of those three quarters.

“We saw a large amount of deaths both from fentanyl and non-fentanyl opioids but the trend doesn’t seem to be continuing to increase as it had in the past,” said Dr. Kristin Klein, deputy chief medical officer of health for the province. “So it’s somewhat reassuring, although it is still a major crisis and big issue for Albertans.”

Klein said it’s unclear why the numbers have stabilized, although provincial efforts to fight the crisis are hopefully making an impact. These include initiatives to better educate the public about fentanyl, increase distribution of naloxone kits, and improve access to opioid treatment programs.

121:

Deaths from fentanylrelated overdoses in fourth quarter of 2016. 122:

Deaths from fentanyl-related overdoses in first quarter of 2017. 119:

Deaths from fentanylrelated overdoses in second quarter of 2017. 83:

Percentage of all accidental overdose deaths in 2016 in which opioids and fentanyl were directly involved. 38:

Percentage of suicide overdose deaths in 2016 in which opioids and fentanyl were directly involved. 2,402:

Visits to emergency departments and urgent-care centres related to opioids and other substances of misuse in the first quarter of 2017. This is up from 1,919 in the same period last year. 1,541:

Unique individuals dispensed methadone in the Edmonton region in 2016-17, up from 1,487 the previous year. 1,278:

Unique individuals dispensed naloxone in the Edmonton region in 2016-17, up from 849 the previous year. 18,562:

Total naloxone kits dispensed in Alberta as of June 30.