A dearth of data in opioid crisis

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/11/2016 (3028 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s a public-health concern. Data collection has been highlighted as an important strategy in dealing with it. Yet the provincial government remains stymied in getting an accurate understanding of just how big the problem is.

Welcome to the opioid crisis in 2016.

Today, a two-day opioid conference opens in Ottawa to discuss the growing number of overdoses and deaths as a result of these drugs. Premiers are asking the federal health minister to institute a national strategy to fight the rise of opioid abuse and the influx of fentanyl from places such as China.

Earlier this week, three bodies were pulled out of a home in Inkster, dead from a suspected fentanyl overdose. The United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg have started an ad campaign designed to educate the public about fentanyl as paramedics and police deal with the crisis on a daily basis.

In the face of this mounting public-health issue, Manitoba’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has provided little information about the number of deaths this year from opioid overdoses, including fentanyl — information, by the way, other provinces seem capable of providing.

At a news conference earlier this week, Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen complained about his inability to get real-time data about opioid overdoses. The latest figures provided by the medical examiner were from 2015, nearly one year too late. Furthermore, the information provided doesn’t contain details of where deaths are occurring. For example, is the opioid crisis a problem only in urban centres, or has it started to affect rural areas — including First Nations reserves — as well?

In Alberta, information regarding opioid overdoses is provided quarterly. Included is an overview of where the most deaths are occurring as well as insight into the effect it’s having on First Nations.

Just recently, Alberta’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner had included on an individual’s death certificate the list of drugs that caused the death, which allows for faster collection of data and easier access to information. In Saskatchewan, the Office of the Chief Coroner began compiling data in May that is expected to help health authorities understand the extent of the opioid crisis in that province. It would be wise for Manitoba’s health minister to push this province’s medical examiner’s office to step up its reporting as well. The province cannot be left twisting in the wind.

Unfortunately a lack of health statistics is nothing new in Manitoba. In 2009, when the Free Press was attempting to understand the tuberculosis epidemic that was plaguing First Nations reserves in northern Manitoba, provincial officials refused to disclose the number of cases on reserve, saying to do so would “harm relations” with the federal government.

Manitoba currently has an acting chief medical examiner. Dr. Thambirajah Balachandra retired earlier this year after two decades in the position. Dr. John Younes, a pathologist who had been the deputy chief medical examiner since 2013, is now temporarily filling the role. Perhaps improving the data-collection system for public-health issues should be among the criteria considered when hiring Dr. Balachandra’s replacement.

The more information, the better public-health officials and policy-makers can determine where resources should be focused and how to best approach the situation. Year-old statistics aren’t enough.