Local groups mark the public health emergency across the province.
April 14th marks six years since the public health emergency was declared by the province in relation to the drug toxicity deaths occurring across the province. Local groups are looking to utilize the day as a way to honour those who have passed.
The local community group Ankors had planned to stage a vigil and protest on April 14th, though alterations have been made due to the global climate. In a statement reported by myeastkootenaynow.com, Jessica Lamb, peer lead development coordinator with Anors had the following comments on the organizations plans for April 14th.
“During COVID and with people passing away and not being able to have funerals or gatherings, we just really wanted to focus on the side that people weren’t able to gather. We really want to honour and remember those people. We’re going to be doing the big events and protests and that kind of thing on August 31st and we decided to keep this date kind of low-key.”
Since January 2016, 9,410 British Columbians have lost their lives to drug toxicity and 174 lives were lost in February 2022 alone. Public education on this crisis is important to shine a light on the problem and find effective solutions to prevent the number of deaths from rising.
Ankors will be hosting Naloxone training on April 14th at their office and participants will be entered into a draw for a free t-shirt and nasal naloxone kit. There will also be a turkey lunch held the next day between 11am-2pm.