Fraser Valley (FNHA) – NOTE This article may contain sensitive content and could be triggering. For mental health or crisis support, please contact the KUU-US Crisis Line at 1-800-588-8717 or visit the FNHA’s website for additional support services.
The First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) is releasing First Nations-specific data for toxic drug poisoning events in 2022, data that shows First Nations people remain disproportionately impacted, even seven years after British Columbia (BC) declared its province-wide public health emergency on illicit toxic drugs.
The year 2022 was the most devastating to date for First Nations people, their families, friends and communities. There were 373 toxic drug-poisoning deaths among First Nations people, a 6.3 per cent increase compared to 2021. First Nations people died at 5.9 times the rate of other BC residents in 2022.
A disturbing trend is the impact on First Nations women, who died at 11.2 times the rate of other female BC residents in 2022, an increase from the 2021 data.
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The FNHA has created Healing Indigenous Hearts, a facilitators’ guidebook for those wishing to establish peer-support groups for Indigenous peoples and families that are navigating grief and loss related to the harms from substance use.
For more information about the FNHA’s work on harm reduction, including the 2022 toxic drug poisoning data, please visit fnha.ca/harmreduction.
