Course: Measuring the Burden of Opioid-Related Mortality in Ontario, Canada, During the COVID-19 Pandemic
CME Credits: 1.00
Released: 2021-05-26
The COVID-19 pandemic struck in the midst of an epidemic of opioid overdoses that has resulted in nearly 20,000 deaths in Canada since 2016. Pandemic-mandated measures, including changes to health care delivery to accommodate physical distancing and increased social isolation, can increase the risk of harm for people who use drugs. For example, reduced operation hours of health care services (eg, pharmacies and outpatient clinics) and harm reduction services (eg, drug checking programs and supervised consumption sites) have introduced additional barriers to care for people with opioid use disorder. Data from across North America suggest that the rate of opioid-related deaths has increased during the pandemic.,, We sought to quantify the added burden of fatal opioid overdoses occurring in Ontario during the first 6 months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Educational Objective
To identify the key insights or developments described in this article
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