Former health officials, advocates reflect on anniversary of overdose emergency
by Nick Wells, The Canadian Press
Posted Apr 14, 2021 4:00 am EDT
Last Updated Apr 14, 2021 at 4:11 am EDT
VANCOUVER — When British Columbia’s provincial health officer declared an emergency over the overdose crisis five years ago, he said it was because those who died deserved more of a response.
Since then, more than 7,000 have died in “unnecessary” deaths, said Dr. Perry Kendall.
“If you look at the map of B.C., people are dying in every town and village in this province,” he said in an interview Tuesday. “They’re not all people who are homeless … we have people who are employed, or unemployed, who have families and children. They are us,” said Kendall, who was B.C.’s public health officer from 1999 to 2018.