Item - 2018.HL29.9

The Board of Health:

1.  Thanked the Province of Ontario for recognizing the lifesaving role of harm reduction as a critical component of the health care system.

2.  Requested the Province of Ontario to meet with the City of Toronto's Medical Officer of Health to discuss concerns with, and amendments to, the restrictive guidelines in the Consumption and Treatment Service Guidelines.

3.  Requested the Province of Ontario to maintain funding and support for all existing Supervised Injection Services and Overdose Prevention Sites in the City of Toronto.

We continue to be in the midst of an overdose crisis that represents the worst public health crisis our City, and indeed our country, has seen in decades. The number of people in Toronto dying from opioid overdoses continues to rise. Recent data from the Coroner shows that in 2017, 303 people in Toronto died from opioid overdoses. This represents a 63 percent increase from 2016, and a 121 percent increase from 2015.

The situation remains urgent, and we need to do everything possible to save lives. The Province plays a key role in our response to this crisis. The recent introduction by the provincial government of new regulations for consumption and treatment services was a critical acknowledgement of the life-saving role of harm reduction services in both providing health care and in addressing the continuing overdose.

While the acknowledgement of the role of harm reduction services was critical, there are concerns with the restrictive nature of the new Consumption and Treatment Service guidelines. As the Chair of the Toronto Drug Strategy Implementation Panel, I would be pleased to work together with our colleagues in the provincial government to discuss amendments to the new guidelines, and to continue to work together to ensure that we do everything we can as a City, and as a province, to save the lives of so many in our communities.