Work continues on a Community Opioid Strategy in Windsor-Essex.
The local health unit's Acting Medical Officer of Health Dr. Wajid Ahmed says public consultation sessions in Windsor and Leamington were well attended and the focus now becomes turning that information into a solid plan moving forward.
Ahmed says the strategy will consist of four main pillars including prevention and education, treatment, harm reduction and enforcement.
Ahmed says a provincial plan is being put together as well, but each community needs its own unique strategy.
"If you look at our population, people who are using drugs, that may be very different from some of the other communities. So we need to understand their specific needs. So we need that local perspective to understand the issue better because many of these things are happening at the local level and only working at the local level resolves some of those things."
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit hosts a public discussion session on its opioid strategy (Photo by Ricardo Veneza)
He says the face of addiction has changed.
"It's not that people who are addicted have some kind of taboo or they are the outcasts in society. No, there are people who belong to well educated families and somehow they got addicted to opioids and now they're trying to control their addiction."
Ahmed adds, says there's still a lot of work that needs to be done.
"We have got into a situation over a number of years and it'll take a number of years to get to the situation where we want to be, but just seeing the response in the community, I'm happy to see the community engaged because that is the most important thing. So we need to make sure that we are inclusive and basically treating addiction as a disease."
Acting Medical Officer of Health of the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit, Wajid Ahmed, attends a public discussion session on the health unit's opioid strategy (Photo by Ricardo Veneza)
The finalized plan is expected to be presented to the public early next year.
Last month, the Erie St. Clair Local Health Integration Network announced a major funding boost of $475,000 for front-line services needed to reduce the opioid crisis in Windsor Essex.
In 2016, there were 865 opioid related deaths across the province with 45 occurring in the Erie St. Clair region.