Federal, provincial, and local officials gathered over Zoom on February 1st to announce more than $15 million in federal funding for four safer drug supply projects for people at risk of overdose in BC. $3.6 million of this funding, awarded by Health Canada’s Substance Use and Addictions Program (SUAP), will support an evidence-informed innovative Safer Drug Supply Program at the BC-CfE’s Hope to Health Research & Innovation Complex in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES). BC-CfE staff at the complex will prescribe and provide pharmaceutical-grade medication as an alternative to the increasingly toxic illegal supply in circulation.
BC, under a public health emergency declared in the Spring of 2016 due to the significant rise in opioid-related overdose deaths, has seen more than 6,500 people fatally overdose since the declaration. Now, with the concurrent public health emergency of the COVID-19 pandemic, the problem of fatal overdoses is getting worse. COVID-19 has made BC’s street drug supply more toxic, while simultaneously increasing barriers to services. The latest data from the BCCDC indicates that as many as five British Columbians are dying every day as a result of overdoses
Starting in October 2019, the Hope to Health Complex has offered primary care to DTES residents with the support of an interdisciplinary team of physicians, nurses, social workers, counsellors, and peer navigators. The model of care provides ‘wrap-around’ healthcare to clients, ensuring they receive the full continuum of care under one roof. Over 800 clients have been registered since opening. Starting October 2020, the Hope to Health Complex added a Supervised Consumption Site, as an important new service and an additional entry point to the array of services provided. The new SUAP funding and the Risk Mitigation Interim Guidelines, allows the BC-CfE to expand access to methadone and hydromorphone as well as other pharmacological alternatives to street drugs among individuals chronically using illegal street drugs.
Fiona Dalton, President and CEO of Providence Health Care said, “PHC welcomes this exciting news regarding the much-needed expansion of safer drug supply in the DTES led by the BC Centre for Excellence at the Hope to Health Complex. Helping people transition from the increasingly toxic supply of street drugs to pharmacological alternatives will save lives. This support from Health Canada’s Substance Use and Addictions Program is much-needed as BC escalates efforts to control the opioid overdose crisis.”
Dr. Julio Montaner, the BC-CfE’s Executive Director and Physician-in-Chief, said, “We are grateful for the support from Heath Canada’s Substance Use and Addictions Program, a timely investment as we continue to battle British Columbia’s opioid overdose crisis. In this context, the expansion of safer drug supply in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver represents a critically important next step. This program expands the holistic nature of the supports we offer at the Hope to Health Complex, in collaboration with the BC-Government, Providence Health Care and Vancouver Coastal Health. Established with generous funding from two anonymous philanthropic donors, the Hope to Health Complex offers innovative primary health care, a dedicated oral opioid substitution program, and an ophthalmology clinic, as well as the newly established Supervised Consumption Site and the Safer Drug Supply program. Our ultimate goal is to expand and sustain the gains we have made in the control of HIV/AIDS in BC, and to continue to expand these efforts to the area of viral hepatitis, within an environment where mental health and substance use are highly prevalent and in urgent need of further innovative programs.”
The Zoom announcement of the SUAP funding saw Dr. Hedy Fry, Member of Parliament for Vancouver Centre, speak on behalf of Canada’s Minister of Health, Patty Hajdu. Dr. Fry said, “The pandemic has magnified the effects of an already devastating overdose crisis across Canada. In B.C., we’ve been expanding services as well as advocating for additional federal resources and I’m pleased that Health Canada is working with us to help separate more people from the toxic drug supply. I’m grateful to the frontline organizations whose critical work is so vital to B.C.’s overdose response and the people they serve.”
Dr. Fry was joined by Sheila Malcolmson, BC’s Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, and Dr. Patricia Daly, the Chief Medical Health Officer of Vancouver Coastal Health. All three agreed on the tenet that substance use disorder is a health condition that can be managed and treated if people are provided with services and supports that best meet their needs. The BC-CfE is doing its part to reduce overdose deaths by providing those living with opioid use disorder with a safer, medical alternative from a licensed prescriber and also by connecting people with critical health and social services.