National Safer Supply Community of Practice
For providing safer opioid drug supply programs across Canada
There are about 15 opioid-related-poisoning hospitalizations a day in Canada, and between January 2016 and March of 2022, there have been almost 31,000 apparent opioid toxicity deaths. Most of these deaths and hospitalizations are caused by illegal drugs contaminated with fentanyl, a toxic pain reliever that has a high risk of accidental overdose. One prevention group, the National Safer Supply Community of Practice (NSS-CoP), is working to scale up safer supply programs across Canada. Through webinars, social media outreach and mentorship, NSS-CoP works with public health units and advocacy groups to develop more robust safer supply programs. To prevent overdoses, these programs provide people with opioid addictions with legal pharmaceutical-grade drugs. With funding from Health Canada, NSS-CoP works with local initiatives in urban, rural and remote settings to create innovative models for providing safer supply. One recent example is a pilot program that launched earlier this year in Thunder Bay, Ont., a community where, in 2021, one person died of an accidental overdose nearly every three days. The program offers lessons in basic first aid, help filling out applications for housing or social assistance and ways to navigate the justice system. New measures like these connect people with the support systems they need to stay safeone important tool in an ongoing response to Canadas overdose crisis. Rebecca Gao