Ontario’s Auditor General is critical of the province’s decision to close safe consumption sites in Ontario.
Sites near to schools and childcare centres were specifically targeted.
Shelley Spence says the move was made without proper planning, impact analysis or consultation.
“The Ministry of Health did not assess the impact of the closure of the supervised consumption sites, which is an evidence-based approach for harm reduction to reduce overdoses, nor did they develop a plan to migrate the risks introduced by the change,” says Spence.
Her review of the decision and the sites found them helping to prevent 1,500 overdoses.
Spence says they also found the Ministry of Health lacks data on opioid addiction services.
She recommends updating a nearly 10-year-old strategy
Spence adds there is a need for a new strategy around opioids specifically.
“The Chief Medical Officer of Ontario has also stated that having substance-based strategies is a best practice. So we’re asking them to really focus on opioids themselves as opposed to the strategy that they have now, which is more around addictions in general.”
Spence does not see the new Health Hubs proposed to replace the sites as being as effective in reducing overdose deaths.
