Opioid deaths to hit 4,000 this year

TORONTO — At least 1,460 Canadians have died from opioid-related overdoses in the first half of 2017 — a number that’s expected to rise, as not all provinces have reported final data for the period, the Public Health Agency of Canada said Monday.

Dr. Theresa Tam, chief public health officer of Canada, said Ontario, Quebec and Manitoba are yet to report all of their opioid-related overdose deaths for the first half of the year.

But based on figures reported by the other provinces and territories, Tam said the number of overdose deaths are on pace to surpass 4,000 by the end of the year – far above last year’s tally of 2,861 opioid-related fatalities.

“It’s an extremely complex whole-of-society issue that we’re dealing with. This is a national public health crisis,” Canada’s top doctor said in an interview from Ottawa.

“First and foremost there is a very toxic drug supply,” she said, referring to illicit fentanyl, a powerful and potentially deadly opioid that is increasingly finding its way into street drugs across the country.

“So we’ve seen the proportion of fentanyl as part of the opioidrelated deaths go up 75 per cent now, and that’s increased compared to last year,” she said.

In 2016, illicit fentanyl was implicated in 53 per cent of all opioid overdose deaths.

“It’s such a toxic drug that there is no second chance,” Tam said.