Two new community action teams (CATs), which work to prevent drug overdoses, are coming to Vancouver Island as part of the province's $3.5-million funding program for local overdose crisis solutions.
The bulk of the funding is being directed towards municipalities that work with regional health authorities that develop projects to help users recover and re-enter their communities.
However, the province also plans to create 16 new CATs across the province, including two that will be sent to Vancouver Island; in the Comox Valley and Oceanside communities.
Currently, 19 CATs are in operation across B.C., including five on Vancouver Island; in Victoria, Campbell River, Nanaimo, Duncan and Port Alberni.
Meanwhile, up to $50,000 in grant funding will people available for municipalities that apply with new projects that are designed to reduce overdoses, like recovery programs, clean needle distribution, community dialogues and more.
“From day one, we recognized that it is people on the ground, on the front lines of the overdose crisis who know best what works in their communities, large and small,” said Judy Darcy, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions in a statement on Monday.
“By investing in local solutions, we are coming together as a province to reduce harm, fight stigma and support people on their own pathway to healing and hope.”
In August, Island Health announced that a new Injectable Opioid Agonist Treatment (iOAT) facility would open in Victoria in the near future. The clinic space will offer long-term treatment for people with a chronic opioid dependency.
"Addiction is a chronic illness, and it needs to be treated with all of the tools at our disposal," said chief medical health officer Dr. Richard Stanwick back in August.
"iOAT is an effective treatment for chronic opioid addiction, and is one more way we can address overdose deaths."
