Sask. Party, NDP overdose and addiction plans missing harm reduction measures, say experts, workers

Public health experts and front-line workers are calling on Saskatchewan's next government to take urgent action to expand harm reduction and prevent drug overdose deaths, which have declined but still amount to one death every day in the province on average.

Between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30 this year, 155 people died of confirmed drug overdoses and an additional 128 deaths were suspected overdoses, according to a recent report from the Saskatchewan Coroners Service.

That's roughly a 23 per cent decline from a comparable period last year,when the province recorded369 drug-related deaths 150 confirmed and 219 suspected between Jan.1 and Oct. 11.

However, the province is on track to record more deaths this yearthan in 2020, when they rose drastically amid pandemic disruptions.

"It's good to hear that they're down from last year," said Emile Gariepy, the harm reduction manager at Newo Yotina Friendship Centre, which runs Regina's first overdose prevention site.

"But it's still quite a drastic number."

In the lead-up to the Oct. 28 provincial election, boththe Saskatchewan Party and the SaskatchewanNDP have pledged in their campaign platforms to address mental health and addictions, if elected.

The Saskatchewan Party says it would continue working to open 500 new addiction treatment beds, 213 of which it says have already been announced or opened under its government.

The NDP's platform promises toincrease access to addictions supports like counselling and early intervention services, and also enrolmore people in the rapid access counselling program"so people can get the support they need."

• Platform Tracker 2024: How do Saskatchewan's parties compare on these election issues?

But neither platform includes the words "overdose," "harm reduction," or "opioid," a troubling detail forBarb Fornssler, an assistant professor at the University of Saskatchewan's school of public health.

"Limiting our responses to a sort of treatment-only approach is concerning," Fornssler told CBC in an interview Thursday.

"What we really need in this province to see a significant change is going to be a fully funded continuum of care, which would include harm reduction, prevention, treatment and early intervention opportunities in the community."

Fornssler and Gariepy both say the next government should reverse cuts to harm reduction funding and limits on free needle supplies introduced by the Sask. Party earlier this year, which they and other experts say will increase the rate of HIV and other blood-borne diseases among people who use drugs.

"I'm really happy that they did add more beds, and it makes it easier for people to get into a treatment centre," said Gariepy, who is also the friendship centre's primary care paramedic.

"But now that that has been addressed, we need to address, beforehand, how are these people going to get into treatment centres if they're not alive?"

Embrace evidence-based practices: prof

He and Fornssler say that while it's tough to pinpoint why deaths have declined so far year-over-year, it's most likely an effect of several things, including changes in the illicit drug supply.

Morepeople are alsocarrying naloxone because of increased awareness of the risks posed by synthetic opioids likefentanyl, as well as methamphetamine and benzodiazepines, added Fornssler.

"I would love to see leadership that is eager to embrace evidence-based practices in their policies regarding mental health and addictions," said Fornssler. "That would mean implementing a full continuum of care for people in Saskatchewan so that they can access the supports that they need."

Neither party responded directly when asked by CBC News whether they would reverse the changes if elected or if they supported harm reduction.

"Too many lives have been lost to this crisis and it's incumbent that governments act to save lives," read a Thursday emailed statement from the NDP, saying, if elected, the party would "use evidence-based measures to help those struggling."

Meanwhile the Saskatchewan Party says it remains "focused on a recovery-oriented system of care and getting individuals access to the help they need."

"There is no such thing as safe consumption of illegal drugs and there are no plans to fund any [overdose prevention] sites," it said in an emailed statement Thursday.

Overdose deathshave also declined inseveral other jurisdictions in Canada and the U.S. in the last year, but it's hard to say why,or know whether the trend may hold in the long term, says Dr. Alexander Caudarella, a family doctor and CEO of the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction.

He stressed that changes in the drug supply are likely part of the decline, but it also shows the importance of public health and addiction treatment interventions of all kinds to save lives.

"More often than not, what you're doing is not nearly as important as the fact that you were doing something from a caring and empathetic point of view," he said.

"The jurisdictions that not only have seen these reductions but have had them sustained have done so with really a very kind of whole-of-community and whole suite of evidence-based solutions."