Shared meth syringes drive hepatitis outbreak

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This article was published 11/12/2018 (2826 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A sharp rise in the use of needles in Winnipeg to inject methamphetamine is driving up rates of hepatitis and other blood-borne diseases to alarming levels, according to documents obtained by the provincial NDP.

The “lack of provincial leadership” has also exacerbated the city’s ability to cope with the crisis, says an Aug. 1 briefing note issued by the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.

It’s part of a series of documents the NDP obtained through freedom-of-information laws and released Tuesday that shows officials believe a staggering rise in infections in Winnipeg is largely due to shared syringes.

Public health officials have declared an outbreak “of acute hepatitis B” that is almost exclusively linked to injection drug use. Hepatitis C is also on the rise among young people under the age of 25, “something that is unprecedented…,” the documents reveal.

Meanwhile, the current syphilis outbreak is “the highest number ever recorded” in the Winnipeg health region, according to one WRHA briefing note. 

“These documents show that the meth crisis in Winnipeg is now becoming a public health crisis,” NDP Leader Wab Kinew said. “This issue is not just affecting people who are addicted to methamphetamine, but also that it… can spread to the broader population,”

The documents also suggest that the the six mental-health beds the province allocated for the Health Sciences Centre back in January are temporary measures only — although Health Minister Cameron Friesen hotly disputed that.

In a later scrum with reporters, Friesen referred to the Aug. 1 briefing note as an “historical document.” He said he has ordered that the addictions treatment beds be maintained in any reorganization of health delivery services.

The documents make clear that health officials are bracing for increased costs due to meth addiction and other illnesses that stem from it. Officials are predicting a steep rise in emergency room visits as well as lengthier hospital stays due to systemic or cardiac illnesses related to drug injection.

The documents say a single hepatitis C diagnosis costs taxpayers more than $40,000, while a case of HIV or AIDS costs roughly $1 million in treatment and drugs. It compares that with the cost of a needle: nine cents.

As of its August estimate, the WRHA was on track to distribute two million needles in 2018, compared with about a half million in 2013.

Another document obtained by the NDP, an undated powerpoint presentation, shows that 47 per cent of people who died from an “apparent fentanyl-related overdose” in 2017 also had crystal meth in their system. The document, issued sometime after June 1, notes “our system is not equipped for” the number of acute-care admissions.

“Addictions treatment (is) not highly effective and difficult to access at this time,” reads one slide.

Kinew said the documents show that the government has been slow to respond to the meth issue and hasn’t taken the problem seriously enough to date.

He said there is a need for a broad, aggressive strategy to “push back against meth use,” one that includes the creation of a safe injection site in Winnipeg — something the provincial government has resisted. 

According to one document, “supervised consumption services,” or safe injection sites, “can be a point of entry into the health care system” for people who are otherwise excluded or underserved. A working group comprised of representatives of 15 community organizations, the WRHA and Manitoba Health is examining the issue. It’s expected to submit its report in about a month.

Meanwhile, Friesen said “a lot has changed” since some of the documents obtained by the NDP were produced. He said an assertion that the government refused to accept advice regarding early intervention measures is false. The government actually acted on the advice a few weeks ago, he said, when it announced that Manitoba had become the first province to give paramedics the ability to administer olanzapine, a drug that helps prevent methamphetamine-related psychosis.

As for the criticism in one of the documents about a lack of provincial leadership, Friesen said the opinion expressed came from a group formed within the WRHA that involved a variety of community organizations. He said he believes the record will show that the provincial government is taking steps to address the issue.

Friesen also said Manitobans didn’t need the NDP, with documents obtained through freedom of information legislation, to convince them that methamphetamine is a problem.

“We are only too aware. We are all alarmed. As a government we’ve said it has our full attention. And that’s why we’re acting,” he said.

– with files from Dylan Robertson 

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca  

jessica.botelho@freepress.mb.ca

NDP documents on WRHA tracking of meth-related infections.pdf