Latest news with #mortalityrate
CBC
26-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
Thunder Bay tops Ontario's opioid death rates for another year
Ontario's chief coroner says Thunder Bay once again has the highest opioid toxicity mortality rate in the province. According to new data by the Office of the Chief Coroner for Ontario, the region had 80 opioid overdose deaths in 2024. That statistic puts Thunder Bay at the highest per-capita rate in Ontario, at 69.14 deaths per 100,000 people — with Sault Ste. Marie just behind, recording 38 deaths last year and Timmins with 18. Ontario's Chief Coroner, Dr. Dirk Huyer, noted that while his office does not formally track the underlying causes behind the region's high incidence of opioid-related deaths, he says a myriad of reasons could drive that number. "It could be the unrelated drug supply… we don't know the supply per say, but it could be that there are challenges that people are facing that are different in the Thunder Bay area than other locations," he said. Kandace Belanger, manager of harm reduction and street outreach at the Thunder Bay District Health Unit, said the answer behind that number is multifaceted, but could come down to a few reasons. "We certainly understand that there are high rates of people experiencing addictions and mental health concerns," she said. "I think we have people who experience high rates of trauma and intergenerational trauma — which all sort of intersect." According to the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network (ODPRN), 2024 saw an average of 186 opioid toxicity deaths per month. Thunder Bay has consistently reported some of the highest opioid-related mortality rates in Ontario over recent years: the previous year in 2023, Public Health Ontario reported 77 opioid-related deaths in Thunder Bay, maintaining its position as the region with the highest per capita opioid mortality rate in Ontario. Keeping those recurring stats in mind, Belanger said it's not about doing anything differently, but having more of an emphasis on continued work. "I think the messaging is that our role is really, in the whole continuum of substance use… around the harm reduction aspect of things," she said. Ongoing efforts To build on previous work and to help prevent future deaths, Belanger says the health unit continues to take several important steps. One is providing naloxone — a medication that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose — to individuals or families that may have loved ones using opioids. Belanger also says the health unit provides training so people understand what overdoses look like and how to respond to them, and also speak with people at risk of overdosing to not use alone. "There are some local supports and services, one of them is the Lifeguard Digital Health app," she said. "One of the biggest features is it has a built-in timer, where if someone is using alone, they can enter their information and location and if they don't respond to the timer within a specific amount of time, then EMS can automatically be dispatched to their location." Belanger said a big loss for Thunder Bay was seeing the closure of its only safe consumption site, Path 525. Ontario previously banned the use of supervised drug consumption sites within 200 meters of schools and child-care centres, with 10 facilities across the province seeing closures by March of this year.
Daily Mail
18-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Is YOUR neighbourhood a premature death hotspot? Interactive map reveals the areas of England and Wales where men are most likely to die young
Dozens of areas of England and Wales have today been flagged as premature death hotspots. Blackpool South has the highest premature mortality rate, MailOnline analysis shows. For every 100,000 men living there, nearly 730 died last year before turning 75. Although that rate appears small, it is 3.4 times higher than in North East Hampshire (214.3 per 100,000) – the area of the country where men have the best chances of avoiding an early grave. Professor Karol Sikora, an oncologist with 40 years of experience who once advised ministers and acted as the World Health Organization 's cancer chief, described the rate in Blackpool South as 'dreadful'. He added: 'Anything above 500 is bad news.' Yet Government figures suggest 76 of the 575 parliamentary constituencies – or one in eight – exceed that rate. All rates are age-standardised, meaning they factor in the age distribution of different areas, this is because comparing two populations that have different age structures is not fair. How are premature deaths calculated? Someone is counted as dying prematurely if they die before the age of 75. Statisticians use age-standardised mortality rates to allow comparison between populations which may contain different proportions of people of different ages. This is because age is the biggest factor when it comes to mortality rates. For example, a neighbourhood home to swathes of over-60s would, in theory, record more premature deaths than a student hotspot. Therefore, factoring in the ages of the two places would allow a fairer comparison on relative mortality experience in each area, according to experts. The rate is usually per 100,000 population. Professor Sikora said: 'These scores reflect poverty. 'People with less money have less education, and they tend to have more unhealthy lifestyles, from everything to smoking, alcohol, obesity, everything you can imagine, lack of exercise, poor diets, poor housing conditions. 'All this leads to illness, and that leads to earlier mortality. 'It is bound to get worse without major policy changes.' However, Professor Sikora points out that not all communities face the same outcomes. He said: 'There are some exceptions. I mean, it's quite amazing. For example, the South Asian population in Slough live remarkably long, and they do remarkably well, and they tend not to be obese. So it's not just poverty, it's a whole series of things around it.' The original mortality data, held by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), lay bare a clear North-South divide. Out of the 20 constituencies with the worst premature death rates, 13 of them were in the north and three in the Midlands. For comparison, 16 out of 20 areas with the lowest figures were in the south. Behind Blackpool South came Middleborough and Thornaby East (685.8) and Leeds South (670.4). Premature deaths may happen from illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, injuries, violence and even suicide. Although Professor Sikora explains the main driver of premature mortality is lifestyle, he says a secondary factor is access to healthcare. He said: 'We have a free system, the NHS. But we know that poorer people access it differently from wealthier people, even though it's free. 'So it's not so much wealth. It's education. The better educated people can use a complex system more effectively than people who have no education. 'They just know how not to get aggressive, because getting aggressive doesn't help, but how to push for what they want in a quiet sort of way, and so access to health care.' Professor Sikora also points out that the best specialists and the best GPs often choose to live in the most desirable areas, not in deprived areas. The ONS data, which defines a premature death to be anything before 75, does not include Scotland or Northern Ireland. The analysis comes after a study last year concluded one in four premature deaths will be due to cancer between 2023 and 2050. This equates to around 50,000 per year, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). It warned that the 'current trajectory of cancer costs is unsustainable'. Professor Sikora says cancer deaths often follow the same pattern as other deaths, with lifestyle factors such as smoking, alcohol, obesity, lack of exercise, poor quality, diet, all posing risks. He also said poorer people are less likely to access treatment as they don't go for screening, don't have mammograms and don't turn up for tests when they're asked to. 'They often just don't bother going to the hospital, or when they do, they go when it's late. They haven't got the money to get on public transport and get there. So they just skip the hospital appointments and so on', he said. Peter Matejic, chief analyst at the poverty fighting charity Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said: 'It's heartbreaking that some areas have such high rates of premature deaths. 'We have known that there are links between poverty and worse health outcomes for decades, and as a nation that is a gap we should be narrowing. 'Many factors throughout your life can lead to dying prematurely, but your economic situation affects your health at every stage, from what you eat as a child to whether you can afford essentials as an adult. 'The nation's health needs a real focus from the government but this isn't just about the NHS – it's about whether people are able to lead healthy lives with dignity and hope.'
