Essay Example on Opioids: Powerful Pain Relievers With Side Effects

Introduction

An opioid is a drug that is normally used in relieving pain. It is an over the counter drug and therefore can be sold by pharmacists depending on the restriction put in place. Just like other painkillers, it is intended in treating pains in patience. However opioid is much stronger and much effective as compared to other pain-relieving drugs. Is also has some side effects and the drugs are supposed to be prescribed by a doctor but since it is a pain killer some patients use it without considering the side effect it may have in a body. This has led to many people being addicted to this drug an ended up suffering severe effects of the drug other than the intended treat to the extent of even losing their lives. Opioid addiction is very common in Canada. The situation is worse and has raised alarm in the country forcing the health agencies and the government to intervene and take control. This paper discusses how the Canadian government has built its knowledge exchange about the drug and the social effectiveness of some of the social policies in the country.

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Canada is one of the countries which have had a crisis on an opioid. Statistics in the country show that there is a high level of misuse of opioid drugs in Canada, addiction, and deaths (Lisa&Jessica, 2018). Over the last decades, the country has recorded a dramatic increase in deaths related to opioids. Most alarming is that the deaths occur in young adults costing the country young life who could have been productive. In the year 2010 almost eight out of ten patience that died as a result of opioid misuses. It was also found out that the deaths were among youths aged between 25 years to 34 years. The statistics also showed that in 2015, Canada recorded 734 deaths caused by opioids; this was equivalent to an average of two deaths daily. It was concluded that there has been an increase of 285% over the last 25 years in the country. That was a very alarming crisis that needed to be addressed as fast as possible. There was a wide range of the drug's type used by the patience ranging from oxycodone; hydromorphone to benzodiazepines. Some of these drugs also contained cocaine.

Capacity building and knowledge exchange to the field of addiction and mental health in Canada

Following the crisis and the impact that the drug abuse in Canada, the government had to intervene. But before doing that it had to build its capacity on the members of the community who would help the government in dealing with the problem. This was the responsibility of the public health sector in Canada. Through its different agencies across the country, the health sector established a comprehensive capacity building by providing knowledge to different individuals about opioids and its impact if the drug is abused.

Apart from the capacity building as one of the ways to curb the crisis, the public health sector also established regulation on how to manage high dose opioid patients as well as how to regulate the use of the drug. By so doing, the government would be able to prevent more addiction and try to save the ones who are already addicted. This was after it was discovered that the healthcare system was not able to manage the high-dose opioid patience. The provincial medical operators were forced to adhere to the Canadian guidelines concerning the drug. Among the guidelines was a strict prescription of an opioid drug. Those who will be found guilty of prescribing the drug with a high dose would be charged. To actualize the guidelines the provincial health sector had to investigate doctors and primary physicians to look for those who prescribe the drug wrongly.

Health promotion effectiveness and how is related to the social policy and the determinants of health in relations to the Opioid Crisis in Canada

The actions taken by the government and the public health sector concerning the opioid sector was somehow effective. However, some effects were negative. The regulations were enforced any physician was held accountable for any prescription they do concerning opioids. All physicians were also to undergo training in colleges to be able to competent enough when dealing with drugs. These were all brought by different health promotion changes in the Canadian healthcare system. There was a new staff anesthesiologist in Toronto general hospital in Ontario, most of the hospital's directors and management was changed. There were changes in departments of anesthesia, pain services, department of family and community medicine among others. The changes brought about strictness in dealing with the drugs which resulted in the physician being afraid to prescribe the drug to patients who needed it. This was another mistake. All patients who needed the drug have the right to receive the drug but in the right prescription. It was another challenge that had to be addressed too. But generally, the changes were effective in a positive way and the rate of death and addiction to opioid drugs dropped in Canada. However, there is still a lot to be done to bring the situation into normal as far as the opioid crisis is concerned in Canada.

Reference

Lisa, B., & Jessica, H. (2018). Evidence synthesis-The The opioid crisis in Canada: a national perspective. Health promotion and chronic disease prevention in Canada: research, policy, and practice, 38(6), 224.