First Nations women overrepresented among B.C. toxic drug deaths: doctor – Abbotsford News

Jan. 31, 2023

Illicit drugs are killing First Nations people at 5 times the rate of B.C.’s general population

Indigenous people, especially women, are dying from toxic drugs at disproportionately high rates in British Columbia as the overdose crisis continues “unabated,” nearly seven years after the province first declared a public health emergency, said the top doctor for the First Nations Health Authority.

Dr. Nel Wieman, the acting chief medical officer, said illicit drugs are killing First Nations people at five times the rate of B.C.’s general population.

That figure rose to 8.8 per cent for First Nations women, specifically, compared with non-Indigenous women in the province in the first half of 2022, she said.

She noted that number contrasts with the overall toll for the province, which shows 79 per cent of those who died from toxic drugs last year were male.

Read More: https://www.abbynews.com/news/first-nations-women-overrepresented-among-b-c-toxic-drug-deaths-doctor/