opioids
The public health, societal
burden of opioid overdose
I
n just 19 years, the rate of opioidrelated deaths increased by a staggering
242 percent in the province, an audience of Ontario methadone prescribers
was told.
Tara Gomes, a scientist at ICES and a Principal Investigator of the Ontario Drug Policy
Research Network told the nearly 300 physicians at the CPSO-organized conference that
between 1991 and 2010 the number of annual
deaths from opioids rose from 127 to 550.
Among adults aged 25 to 34, one of every
eight deaths is related to opioids
“This means that we have at least one or
two people dying of an opioid overdose every
day in Ontario,” she said.
In the study, published in the journal Addiction earlier this year, researchers reviewed
5,935 opioid-related deaths in Ontario
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Dialogue Issue 4, 2014
between 1991 and 2010 and found that approximately one in every 170 deaths in the
province may be related to opioid overdose.
Furthermore, this burden is heavily weighted towards younger people. Among adults
aged 25 to 34, one of every eight deaths is
related to opioids.
Gomes, who is also a scientist at the Li Ka
Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael’s
Hospital, said that as a leading cause of
premature death, opioid overdoses result in
21,927 years of potential life lost annually,
exceeding that due to alcohol use disorders,
pneumonia, HIV/AIDS and influenza.
“The extraordinary toll of premature
mortality related to opioids reflects, in part,
the disproportionate number of these deaths
among younger individuals, and highlights
the public health and societal burden of opioid overdose,” added Gomes.
Gomes was the keynote speaker on a day
that addressed a number of issues relating to
addiction, and methadone specifically.
photo: D.W. Dorken
Researcher Tara Gomes speaks to methadone prescribers about the increase in opioid-related deaths in Ontario.