Top doc warns drug abuse ‘significant threat’ to Windsor-Essex

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Windsor and Essex County’s top doctor is calling for widespread collaboration to tackle life-threatening substance use problems currently burdening the health-care system.

Following a board of health meeting Thursday, medical officer of health Dr. Mehdi Aloosh said the misuse of substances — including alcohol, cannabis, opioids, and tobacco and vaping products — saw a “very concerning” spike in the community after the pandemic.

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“This is a significant threat to our health and well-being,” Aloosh told reporters.

“The death rate from opioids is higher than the province’s here in Windsor and Essex County. The level of hospitalization as a result of alcohol use — misuse — is significantly higher than the province.”

Last year, the deaths of 115 people in Windsor-Essex involved opioid use, a rate of roughly 26 people per population of 100,000. That was nearly double the provincial average for opioid-related deaths of around 15 per 100,000 people.

In April alone, Essex-Windsor EMS recorded 60 calls for suspected drug misuse and 37 for suspected opioid overdoses, according to the health unit’s virtual opioid surveillance dashboard.

“This is not something that’s handled on its own. This is a complex, multi-sector, multi-faceted issue. It needs a multi-sector approach,” Aloosh said.

“I think that we should work together to help control this issue. You ask me for just one word — it’s collaboration.”

The local board of health unanimously passed a resolution to endorse an annual report from Dr. Kieran Moore, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health, which calls for an “all-of-society approach” to address substance misuse.

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That approach “engages communities, governments, public health and social services, and individuals — including people with lived and living experience of substance use,” Moore’s report said.

Efforts are underway to curb substance use and reverse opioid overdoses in the region. During a yearly update on the Windsor-Essex Community Opioid and Substance Strategy (WECOSS), the board heard that more than eight kilos of unused and expired medication was collected for safe disposal in 2023, as was 115 kg of used needles.

More than half a million needles were distributed, and 187 online programs and services for substance use and mental health were developed.

Through its Ontario Naloxone Team, the health unit distributed 1,487 Naloxone kits last year and saw 1,106 more individuals trained to administer the opioid overdose reversal drug, including first responders and social service providers.

There were 43 instances in 2023 where police, fire, and/or EMS administered Naloxone as part of emergency response.

“Seeing statistics that emergency service providers are using Naloxone accessed through this source in their response to overdoses directly, it’s really encouraging for us,” said Eric Nadalin, director of public health programs.

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The health unit has also seen “big success” with a fentanyl test strip distribution program, he said. In 2023, the team distributed 292 test strips, which individuals can use to detect fentanyl in drugs. Nadalin told the board there were 43 instances where clients reported a change in their drug consumption activities because they used test strips.

That program has been expanded this year to include test strips for xylazine and benzodiazepine — potent sedatives “frequently cited in overdoses as part of the toxic drug supply that’s circulating in our community,” Nadalin said.

Naloxone cannot treat either drug.

Related

To combat rising nicotine use among youth, the health unit held a ‘Break the Vape’ challenge in Windsor-Essex schools this year.

Students in grades 6 through 12 created videos about the dangers of vaping and entered them into a contest. Nearly 240 students from 27 schools participated.

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