Government of Yukon releases action plan to tackle opioid crisis

The Government of Yukon today released its Opioid Action Plan to help tackle the growing number of drug-related overdoses and deaths in the territory.

The plan contains both short- and long-term activities to be implemented over the next two years and has four pillars: harm reduction, public awareness, surveillance, and improved addictions and pain management.

The plan was developed jointly by the Opioid and Pain Management Working Group which was set up as a result of the opioid conference held in Whitehorse in 2017. The group was led by Yukon Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Brendan Hanley and has members from the RCMP, the Yukon Hospital Corporation, Blood Ties Four Directions, the Council of Yukon First Nations, the Yukon Medical Association and the Yukon Pharmacists’ Association.

Activities planned for the next two years include developing and launching an awareness campaign about opioids; improving access to evidence-based, non-pharmacological approaches to pain management for all Yukoners; and finalizing and implementing clinical guidelines that include robust opioid withdrawal protocols.

The plan also highlights the significant work that has been done in the territory to address the opioid crisis over the last two years, including a fentanyl awareness campaign, working on clinical guidelines, a take-home naloxone kit program, a fentanyl drug checking service and a Referred Care Clinic Yukon.

With an increase in opioid-related deaths in our communities, we need to work together to help Yukoners to get informed, learn the signs of an overdose and help combat stigma toward people who use drugs. Yukon’s Opioid Action Plan outlines how our government, together with our partners, plan to address the opioid crisis and reduce the harmful impacts it is having on communities across the territory.

Minister of Health and Social Services Pauline Frost

Since the opioid crisis hit Yukon, each person lost to overdose has been a tragic loss, not just to family and loved ones but to all of us in this small community. The deaths and overdoses from opioids are a clarion call for us to not only respond in the short-term way that we have already but also to take a close, sober and systematic look at how we support and treat people with addictions in the long term, and how we can better equip our youth and our communities to prevent harmful drug use. This plan will help us move toward those goals.

Yukon Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Brendan Hanley

Quick facts 
  • Since 2016, 16 Yukoners have died of opioid-related causes.

  • The early symptoms of an opiate overdose include: trouble walking or talking, slow laboured breathing, slow heartbeat, cold clammy skin and severe sleepiness. To learn more about fentanyl, overdose signs and where to get a free take-home naloxone kit visit the Know Your Source website.

Media contact 

Janine Workman
Cabinet Communications
867-393-7449
janine.workman@gov.yk.ca

Julie Ménard
Communications, Health and Social Services
867-667-8478
julie.menard@gov.yk.ca

Dr. Brendan E. Hanley 
Yukon Chief Medical Officer of Health
867-667-8088
brendan.hanley@gov.yk.ca

News release #: 
18-242