On September 24, 2018, over 100 senior level participants from governments, health care, civil society, academia and industry met in Washington, D.C. for the inaugural Canada-U.S. Roundtable on Strategies to Combat the Opioid Crisis. The event exchanged best practices in innovation to address problematic opioid use, including prevention, treatment and recovery, and identified opportunities for collaboration, such as surveillance, research, training and standards.

The Canada-U.S. relationship is unique in the world, marked by a shared border, common values and deep economic, security and cultural ties. In recent years the two nations have begun to share a devastating trend: the rise in opioid-related deaths and opioid substance use disorders. The Opioid Roundtable addressed the dramatic increase in the prevalence of opioid misuse and an increase in fentanyl and heroin-related overdoses in both countries, and discovered that communities across the United States and Canada are taking a public health approach to address the opioid crisis. Throughout the day, common goals were identified, including: the prevention of new cases of problematic opioid use, early intervention, increasing access to treatment and recovery services and continued expansion of data collection.

For more information, contact Mark Fisher (Mark@councilgreatlakesregion.org)

Photo by Michael Longmire on Unsplash