Overdose Awareness Day: Improving substance use care and prevention in BC

Held each year on August 31, International Overdose Awareness Day is a global campaign established in 2001 to end overdoses and reduce the stigma around drug-related deaths. In British Columbia, we are in the ninth year of a devastating public health emergency related to poisonings and deaths from a toxic, illicit drug supply. Last year saw the largest number of drug-related deaths ever reported by the BC Coroners Service—at least 2,511 lives lost. 

A collaborative approach to substance use care – Doctors of BC policy 

The theme for 2024’s Overdose Awareness Day is “Together we can” which highlights the power of community and the need for collective action to end illicit drug overdoses. It is also an opportunity to remember those who have lost their lives and acknowledge the grief of family and friends left behind. 

Harmful substance use affects everyone in British Columbia—individuals, families, and our health care system. Since 2016—when the provincial government declared the public health emergency—14,582 people have lost their lives due to the illicit toxic drug supply.

Doctors of BC’s ongoing policy work in this area is informed by research, collaboration, and engagement with physicians and partner groups and reflects the urgency of the situation.

Through this work, we have made recommendations to build a better substance use system of care that:

• Reduces stigma 

• Prevents or minimizes substance use harms 

• Enables every British Columbian to access the services and care they need when and where they need it. 

Doctors of BC policies on substance use care 

Our 2024 Policy Paper—Improving Substance Use Care and Prevention in BC—includes recommendations such as creating an actionable workplan to implement the Ministry of Mental Health and Addiction’s (MMHA) Adult Substance Use System of Care Framework, establishing a complementary framework for child and youth substance use care, fostering evidence-based prevention initiatives, and increasing support for health care workers.

Our 2021 Policy Statement recommends enhancing the coordination of and access to prevention, harm reduction, and treatment programs and services, increasing efforts to address social determinants of health, and more. 

Committed to supporting physician perspectives

To create a health care environment that supports our key recommendations, Doctors of BC is committed to working with the provincial government and other partners to ensure physician perspectives are considered when relevant policies and programs are developed. 

We will continue to engage with BC physicians to gain your perspectives on substance use care. This will help us identify where clinical supports can be improved and inform physicians of relevant resources and educational tools on substance use and preventative care. 

Many individuals, organizations, physicians, and other health care teams are invested in innovative ways of thinking to make real and lasting change. In the face of this complex issue, more work needs to be done together to build a better substance use care model—and BC’s physicians can play a critical role in realizing this vision. 

If you would like to learn more about our policy work on your behalf, visit our Policy Database. 

If you have any questions, please email View Email Addresspolicystrategyandlegal@doctorsofbc.ca