B.C. allocated 10 times more to fight swine flu than fentanyl crisis

When 57people died of H1N1, or swine flu, in B.C. in 2009, the province put $80million towards fighting the flu pandemic.

But B.C. hasn't been quite as generous incombatingfentanyloverdoses, which have killed 622 people this year alone.

Documents obtained by the provincial NDPthrough a freedom of information requestshow the province budgeted only $5.77 millionto try and curb thegrowing number ofillicit overdoses, which weredeclared apublic health emergencyin April.

"Thefentanylpublic health emergency was called an emergency, but it wasn't funded as an emergency,"said NDP mental health and addictionscritic SueHammell, who describes it as a "shocking difference."

Shesaid much of the $5.77 million has gone to collecting data and gettingthe fentanyl antidotenaloxoneinto the hands of drug users rather than addictionprevention and treatment.

"Theresults prove that the actionstaken have not turned the tide.It getsworse," saidHammell, who accuses the province of now trying to play catch-up.

Fentanyl crisis underfunded, says NDP

CBC News requested a tally of all provincial spending on thefentanylcrisis.

Ina statement, the Ministry of Healthsaid,"Health authorities have informed the ministry that they anticipate spending $5.77 million to support the work around the public health emergency this year."

Last week, the provinceannounced an additional$5 million to help paramedicsand dispatchersrespond tofentanyloverdoses, and since then,Premier Christy Clarkannouncedanother $5million towards a new B.C. Centre on Substance Use.

The premier also announced $5 million for a task force she appointed to deal with the crisis. But this money appears to be partof the original $5.77 million earmarked for the fentanylemergency.

"Some,but not all, ofthis would come from the $5 million in strategies identified by the Joint Task force," the province'sstatementsaid. The province also says this does not include thecosts of providing 15,000 free naloxone kits to drug users and a public awareness campaign, which is paid for from the health ministry's budget.

After this story was published, the Health Ministry sent a clarification:

"To date, we have invested over $15 million to prevent and respond to overdoses in British Columbia."

'How many deaths need to pile up?'

The families of some of the fentanyl victims are furious so little money is being spent to fight this crisis.

"How many deaths need to pile up before swift action is taken?" said StaceyDallyn, whose 18-year-old son Jack Simpsondied of an accidental fentanyl overdoseonMarch 28. "You know, just find the funds and do it ... we're losing our youth."

Dallyn saidthat when her son was 16 and addicted to a number of drugs, including heroin, the family could not find a treatment bed anywhere in B.C. They ended up sendinghim to a private centre in theUnited States.

"We sent him to Utah because there were absolutely no treatment options here for his age group," Dallyn said.

The family spent half a million dollars on an 81-day treatment program, followed by a year of boarding school in Utah that includedaddiction counseling.

"You can't keep them safe,even with money," said Dallyn as she clutched a pendant around her neck that contains Jack's ashes.

She says thatJack returned to Vancouver in 2015,after havingbeen sober for 18 months.

"Within three months he was down the rabbit hole again... He started smoking heroin," his mother said. "It's like ...just standing there and watching them drown."

Dallynstill has trouble accepting that her son is gone.

"Every time I hear a skateboard roll by,I think he is coming home. He's not coming home," saidDallyn. "You look at your phone and you go to call him, you go to tell him something, and he is not there."

Too late to save Jack

During the last election, Premier Clark campaigned on a promise to create 500 new addiction treatment spaces by 2017.

But the province has only created 220 beds,and internal Ministry of Health documents blame thefailure to deliver those spaces on aninability to find vendors, as wellas human resource issues.

The Health Ministry has repeatedlysaid there are203 addiction and mental health beds for youth, but a CBC News investigation could not verify those beds exist. In adocument obtained by CBC in a separate request,the province admits some of those beds are "dedicated for mental health treatment only."

Dallyn is disappointed the province has not invested more heavily inaddiction treatment spacesfor youth.While there is no vaccine forfentanyl,she says addiction treatment programs can save lives.

Stigma of addiction

Eike-HennerKluge, a medical ethics expert at theUniversityof Victoria,suggestedthe disparity inpublic health spending on the current overdose epidemic compared to previous health emergencies may be due tothe stigma of drug addiction.

"There is a perception out there, and it's a conservative, rigid, right-wing perception, that because they contributed to their own addiction, [the victims] don't have the same rights," said Kluge.

Back in August,fourmonths after he declared the public health emergency,Dr. Perry Kendall, the provincial health officer, said B.C. was"in fairly tightly constrained budget times."

The province wasboasting a$730 million dollar surplusat the time.

Kluge said the current criticism of the funding"is fair, because given that there is a surplus, they could have spent it differently."

Kluge said the provincial government has the same responsibility to treat patients with addiction disordersas they do flu victims, and that it had aresponsibility to create anopioidaddictiontreatment system before it becamea crisis.

"You cannot simply blame the individual," said Kluge. "You have to treat the condition."

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