A new report is shedding light on which Canadian cities are being hit hardest by the opioid overdose crisis.
The findings from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) show the London region had the sixth highest rate of hospitalization for opioid use in the country last year.
The report suggests smaller communities are experiencing opioid poisoning hospitalization rates that are more than double those in large cities.
The wider London area, which includes St. Thomas and Strathroy-Caradoc, had a hospitalization rate of 22.5 per 100,000 people in 2017.
That puts the London region sixth overall across Canada, and fourth in Ontario behind Brantford, Thunder Bay, and St. Catharines-Niagara.
“One of the big differences between London and most of the rest of the country is that our opioid epidemic here has been dominated by diverted prescription drugs, so oxycotin or hydromorphone, rather than what is happening in B.C., Alberta, and Saskatchewan right now which is fentanyl being ordered from Asia over the mail service,” said Dr. Chris Mackie, medical officer of health and CEO of the Middlesex London Health Unit.
Mackie believes there needs to be a greater focus on drug prevention measures and addiction services.
“The hospitalization numbers are an example of how we are already spending so much money in this area, but we’re spending it the wrong way,” he said.
Mackie said supervised consumption sites help to reverse potentially fatal overdoses, but the most exciting impact is changing the lives of their clients.
Health officials in London are currently working to open two new supervised consumption sites on York and Simcoe, replacing the current temporary site on King.
A city committee gave unanimous approval this week to the rezoning needed for a new supervised consumption site at 446 York St.
The motion still needs full council approval, and Mackie said it could face an appeal which may delay the process by six months to a year.
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