The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

3 | The IFP -H alton H ills | T hursday,D ecem ber 5,2019 theifp.ca IS YOUR FURNACE READY FOR A NEW SEASON? SAVE 20% ON ALL REPAIRS WITH OUR PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE PLAN This week's find... Hockey & Baseball Collectibles DONATE your ITEMS ~ DROP your RECYCLABLES 905-877-6508 | 49A Mountainview Rd N Georgetown (just south of Armstrong) Discover Holiday Gift Treasures! Christmas Decor • Antiques • Clothing • Furniture • Household Items Closed Mon. & Tues. AUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS for the year ended August 31, 2019 are available on the Board Website www.hcdsb.org Copies are also available upon request. P. DeRosa P. Daly Chair of the Board Director of Education Deaths from opioid over- doses in Halton may be on the decline despite an over- all increase in the number of overdoses regionwide. The Halton Public Health Department's associ- ate medical officer of health Dr. Julie Emili noted during a Thursday, Nov. 28 presen- tation before the Halton Po- lice Board that from Janu- ary to June 2019, there were a total of 12 opioid-related deaths among Halton resi- dents. If this trend continues to the end of the year, this would be a significant de- crease from the 44 opioid-re- lated deaths among Halton residents in 2018. It should be pointed out that the 2019 data only cov- ers January to June, and Halton police reported two fatal suspected overdoses on Nov. 18 alone. Emili said the estimate for 2019 is also subject to the Office of the Chief Coroner of Ontario determining whether some suspected opioid overdoses were actu- ally opioid overdoses. "It's hard to know. Is that truly a decrease, or have we just not gotten all the re- ports from the coroner's of- fice," said Emili. "I would hope that it is a true decrease and it's reflec- tive of all the hard work we are doing in terms of getting the message out of how to use safely, of what services in the community are avail- able to help you and then getting naloxone into as many hands as possible through police, fire, phar- macies." While the number of overdose fatalities may be going down, the number of opioid overdoses appears to be on the increase. The Halton Region noted that between Jan. 1 and Oct. 31, there were 189 ambu- lance calls for suspected opioid overdoses in Halton, which is up from 116 calls during the same period in 2018. This total includes 15 am- bulance calls for suspected overdoses during October alone. There were also 167 emergency room visits by Halton residents for a con- firmed opioid overdose be- tween Jan. 1 and Oct. 31 - up from 147 visits during the same period in 2018. Emili noted that opioid overdoses are on the in- crease provincewide. It was also pointed out that 224 naloxone kits have been distributed through the Halton Region's Harm Reduction Program in the last 12 months. The Region said 273 nal- oxone kits were distributed by pharmacies to Halton residents in April 2019 alone. Jennifer Hartman, co-or- dinator of Halton Police Corporate Communica- NEWS The Halton Region noted that between Jan. 1 and Oct. 31, there were 189 ambulance calls for suspected opioid overdoses in Halton, which is up from 116 calls during the same period in 2018. Chris Simon/Torstar FATAL OVERDOSES MAY BE ON THE DECLINE DAVID LEA dlea@metroland.com See TELLING, page 5