Recently, at the annual Canadian Society of Addiction Medicine (CSAM-SMCA) 2022 Scientific Conference, we presented on how we were able to improve Hepatitis C (HCV) care at scale during the COVID-19 pandemic using several innovative, tech-based interventions. As Canada’s trusted community partner for opioid agonist treatment (OAT) CATC offers seamless HCV screening and linkage to […]
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COVID-19 created many challenges, particularly due to ongoing isolation, and the collective traumatic impact of a global pandemic. The use of all substances increased during the pandemic, and rates of opioid overdoses hit an all-time high. Since March of 2020, the rate of opioid overdoses in Ontario, Canada, has increased by 57%. Additionally, opioid fatalities […]
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September 17th is World Patient Safety Day: established by the World Health Organization to call for global action to improve patient safety. This year’s theme is Medication Safety: something we take extremely seriously. Medication is an important part of treatment for substance use disorder and opioid addiction, and ensuring it’s taken safely every time is […]
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Opioids — which include drugs like heroin, fentanyl, codeine, morphine, hydromorphone, oxycodone, methadone and buprenorphine — are sometimes prescribed to treat and manage pain. However, these drugs can also be dangerous when misused. In Canada, opioid overdoses and deaths are an ongoing crisis, with the number of hospitalizations and deaths steadily rising. Between 2016 and […]
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Hepatitis C is a serious liver disease that affects an estimated 300,000 Canadians at any given time, with 1 in 3 people not knowing they have it due to lack of access to testing. In Canada, people who inject drugs account for 3 out of 4 new infections, making seamless integration of Hep C and […]
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As a class of drugs, opioids include hydrocodone, oxycodone, fentanyl, heroin and morphine. All opioids are chemically similar, interacting with the nerve cells’ opioid receptors throughout the body and brain. Generally, opioid pain relievers can be safe when taken for an appropriate amount of time with a doctor’s prescription and supervision, but they can lead […]
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