On November 18, 2016, Federal Minister of Health Dr. Jane Philpott and Ontario Minister of Health and Long-Term Care Dr. Eric Hoskins convened a national summit to address Canada’sgrowing opioid crisis. The aim of the Opioid Summit was to address the increasing rates of opioid addiction, overdose, and deaths across Canada.
Following the summit, a Joint Statement of Action to Address the Opioid Crisis was produced reflecting the commitments from federal and jurisdictional Ministries of Health and other bodies, as well as pan-Canadian organizations. The key objectives are to improve prevention and treatment, and reduce harms associated with problematic opioid use.
CADTH made the following commitment:
By November 2017: Analyzing the international literature to identify best practices and provide evidence-based recommendations, advice and decision support tools that will inform and guide patients, clinicians and policy-makers regarding pain management interventions (drug and non-drug), and the treatment of opioid addiction.
On the right, we’ve pulled together our best evidence on opioids, divided under the topics of Pain Treatment; Misuse, Overdose, and Harms; Opioid Use Disorder (Addiction); and Alternatives to Opioids. We’ll be updating our Opioid Evidence Bundle regularly with more evidence, including rapid evidence reviews (Rapid Response Reports), Environmental Scans, Horizon Scans, and our larger Optimal Use projects with expert recommendations, as they are completed.
We’ve selected the following materials to get you started:
- Buprenorphine for Opioid Use Disorder: A Review of Comparative Clinical Effectiveness, Safety, Cost-Effectiveness, and Guidelines (Summary with Critical Appraisal, April 2019)
- Publicly Funded and Managed Naloxone Programs in Canada (Tools, December 2018)
- Opioids for the Treatment of Pain (Mind the Research Gaps Tool, September 2018)
- Policies to Prevent Harms From the Co-Prescribing of Opioids and Central Nervous System-Depressant Drugs (Tool, July 2018)
- Treating Opioid Use Disorder (Mind the Research Gaps Tool, March 2018)