Two Public Health Crises, Two Narratives: An Analysis of How Policymakers Have Managed British Columbia's COVID-19 Pandemic and Potential Implications for the Ongoing Overdose Crisis

Original research
by
Burton, Andrea, Brenda Sawatzky-Girling & Jordan Westfall

Release Date

2022

Geography

Canada

Language of Resource

English

Full Text Available

Yes

Open Access / OK to Reproduce

No

Peer Reviewed

Yes

Objective

In our analysis focusing on the Province of British Columbia, we compare and contrast how leadership and politics have impacted the response to COVID-19 vs. the response to B.C.'s concurrent public health emergency, the overdose crisis.

Findings/Key points

On the basis of our analysis, we conclude that Canada needs to be better at building the types of supports it has created to manage the COVID-19 crisis in order to also support individuals who are immersed in the overdose crisis.

doi.org

Keywords

Overdose
Policy/Regulatory
Equity
Illegal drugs