Overdose, health equity and prescribed safer supply in the time of pandemic

Summary: Overdose continues to be an ongoing public health emergency, accounting for over 70,000 years of life lost in 2020. In this presentation we will review recent trends in overdose with an emphasis on the impact of the pandemic on persons who use substances, including widening health inequities experienced by First Nations peoples in BC. The presentation will also review recent findings from an ongoing CIHR and MSFHR-funded evaluation on prescribed safer supply initiatives that were launched in March 2020. Presenters: Dr. Amanda Slaunwhite is a Senior Scientist and the lead of the Provincial Overdose Cohort at the BCCDC. She is an adjunct professor in the School of Population and Public Health at UBC. Louise Meilleur is the Director of Health Surveillance for the First Nations Health Authority. Dr. Heather Palis is a Postdoctoral Fellow with the BCCDC’s Provincial Overdose Cohort team and in the Department of Psychiatry at UBC.

BC CDC Presenters

11/16/2021 8:00:00 PM