THUNDER BAY -- New data from Ontario's health ministry shows that emergency department visits for opioid overdoses in Thunder Bay and district increased sharply during a three-month period this year.
In April, May and June, there were 24 such cases, twice the number in the same period in 2016.
The statistics are from an update provided this week on the provincial government's Interactive Opioid Tracker.
Across all of northwestern Ontario, ER visits related to opioid overdoses more than doubled, with 42 cases from April to June, compared with 19 cases in the equivalent period last year.
There was also a significant increase of 76 per cent in Ontario as a whole.
Simultaneous with the release of the new data, the Ministry of Health and Long-Term care this week announced it is making fentanyl testing strips available to drug users so they can identify whether a substance they are using contains the deadly painkiller.
The strips will first be distributed through current supervised injection services, before being evaluated for further distribution.
Fentanyl is a leading cause of opioid-related deaths in Ontario.
Deaths related to opioids of all kinds continue to increase steadily in the province, rising 19 per cent last year to 865.
Nineteen deaths were recorded across northwestern Ontario, including 14 in Thunder Bay and district, although the death toll in this part of Ontario has trended downward over the last two years.
As part of the $222 million the province announced last month to combat the opioid problem, Health Minister Dr. Eric Hoskins this week announced that $21 million will be made available immediately to help community-based addiction organizations with their response to what he called "this public health crisis."
