Standing Together for Life
Ontario AIDS Network – Drug Policy and Harm Reduction Working Group reflects on International Overdose Awareness Day
On International Overdose Awareness Day, we remember the many lives lost to overdose, honour those living with grief, and recommit ourselves to action against this preventable tragedy. This year, our reflections come in the midst of a deeply troubling reality. Ontario is in the grip of an ongoing toxic drug crisis, one that has claimed tens of thousands of lives and continues to devastate families and communities with death rates surpassing the height of the AIDS crisis. The death rates related to overdose are not only persisting, they are worsening. For the survivors of the toxic drug supply and overdose, there is an increase in acquired brain injuries and complex wounds; these are substantial concerns that impact the quality of life of Canadians while also raising healthcare costs and pressure on an already strained healthcare system.
Organizations serving people living with and at risk of HIV across Ontario have long been at the intersection of HIV work and harm reduction, providing life-saving services, trusted relationships, and essential linkage to care. We see first-hand the human cost of these policy decisions: preventable deaths, fractured support systems, traumatic child apprehensions, and communities left to grieve without adequate resources for healing or prevention.
We refuse to accept a future where evidence-based harm reduction is diminished or disregarded. We know that supervised consumption sites, access to safer supply, and low-barrier harm reduction services save lives, reduce stigma, help prevent new cases of HIV/HCV, and build pathways to needed care. We know that criminalization, surveillance, and moral judgment only perpetuate harm. And we know that every overdose death is preventable.
Click below to read the full letter and calls to action.
In solidarity
