With thousands of N.W.T. evacuees in Alberta, local experts fear impact of toxic drug crisis

Health Care

August 22, 2023admin

With thousands of N.W.T. evacuees in Alberta, local experts fear impact of toxic drug crisis

A small group of health-care workers in Alberta is working to inform wildfire evacuees from the Northwest Territories about where to access common medications for opioid-use disorder in Calgary and Edmonton.

Missing even a day of medications causes withdrawal symptoms, while several days without increases the risk of relapsing for otherwise stable patients — which means more people at risk of dying from the toxic street drug supply, says Dr. Kate Colizza, an addiction medicine and internal medicine physician in Calgary.

“It’s not the type of medication where a lot of people can plan ahead or have extras available,” said Colizza, who created fliers listing opioid agonist therapy (OAT) clinics and programs in the two cities.

“The issue with a lot of these medications — like Suboxone, methadone, Kadian — is that … you have to go to the pharmacy every day to pick up and take your medication.”

Thousands of people have fled Yellowknife and surrounding First Nations since last week, filling evacuation centres in Calgary, Edmonton, and surrounding areas. In the middle of a toxic drug crisis that killed at least 7,328 people across Canada last year, experts and advocates fear displacement due to wildfires could lead to more toxic drug poisonings and deaths.

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Colizza and her colleagues began putting together information for the fliers as soon as they heard evacuees would be arriving in Alberta. The goal is to make it easier for people to access care when they do not have an Alberta health plan and physicians cannot access their health records.

After she shared the information on social media, Colizza said advocates on the ground started printing out the fliers and distributing them at evacuee reception centres.

Petra Schulz, co-founder of Moms Stop the Harm, said the

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Department Health

July 19, 2023admin

Milk River’s emergency department is closed again. The impact goes beyond the rural town

The emergency department in Milk River, Alta., is closed — again.

Alberta Health Services said a shortage of doctors forced the health care facility in the southern Alberta town to shut its doors for a week.

The closure began Friday morning, and it marks the seventh time the emergency department has closed since May.

“It’s affected us very stressfully,” said Colleen Bianchi, who lives in the nearby village of Coutts, Alta. “A lot of frustration for people not having a doctor, having to find help when there’s emergencies.”

During the temporary closure, AHS said nursing staff will remain on-site to provide care for long-term care residents.

Milk River’s emergency department services an area much larger than the southern Alberta town and its 814 or so residents.

An emergency department is pictured. — Patients in need of emergency care are asked to go to other facilities in the area, including Lethbridge’s Chinook Regional Hospital. (Ose Irete/CBC)

Patients in need of care are advised to access emergency services at the Raymond Health Centre, which is about 60 kilometres away, or the Chinook Regional Hospital in Lethbridge, which is roughly 90 kilometres away.

EMS calls will also be re-routed to to either of those centres, AHS said.

But traveling that distance isn’t always doable.

“If you live out where we farm, it’s 35 miles,” Bianchi said. “I get to Milk River and you want me to go another hour, 45 minutes. It’s a concern.”

The Milk River facility services an area of about 1,300 square kilometres. It’s the closest emergency department for many southern Alberta towns near the U.S. border.

“Everybody that lives in this area is dependent upon their services,” said Scott MacCumber, the deputy mayor of Coutts and the chairperson of the Milk River health professionals attraction and retention committee.

“We’ve got people coming down here from

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Health Advice

July 16, 2023admin

ESG impact on the fashion clothing industry in Taiwan | Taiwan News

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Where does all of Taiwan’s unsold and unused fashion, clothing, or apparel go?

The question is relevant to the “E” and “S” of environmental, social, and governance (ESG), which Taiwan espouses in its 2050 Net-Zero Pathway. Taiwan’s stores from the high end to the night markets are awash with clothing and associated apparel, whether it be high fashion or simply something for everyday use.

It is impossible to imagine that it is all sold. Seasons change, ranges change, tastes change, and even with discount outlets, there is simply no possibility that the bewildering array of clothing, shoes, and other pieces of apparel are just stored away in the hope that the items will return to be fashionable again.

A simple walk through even outlet stores in Taipei provides evidence of the sheer mountains of clothing and apparel on sale. We are not spoiled for choice, rather we, as consumers, are drowning in it.

However, if Taiwan and the Taiwanese consumer are as committed to ESG as we are led to believe, then we need answers to these questions and action to tackle the problem. Some commentators say that consumers live in a land of make-believe and even “green wishing” if they believe that unsold, unwanted apparel is somehow recycled and becomes available to be worn again.

In 2013, the famous European fashion retailer H&M, launched a global clothing collection campaign. The company promised at the time that 95% of the thousand tonnes of textiles thrown away each year could be worn again or recycled. Consumers were led to believe that discarded items of apparel would be turned into fabrics and ultimately new products.

Instead, and despite company denials, investigative journalists reported that

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Health Advice

February 8, 2023admin

Shein, Zara Fast Fashion Environmental Impact Piles up at Holidays

The fashion industry has a staggering garbage problem.

Every year more than 100 billion apparel items are created by the industry — enough for every person on Earth to get 14 new pieces of clothing each year, and more than double the amount of clothing produced in 2000. And because of our “buy-and-return” culture, a lot of that clothing is getting sent back to retailers. Despite what many people think, most clothing returns are not restocked, repurposed, or reused — they end up in the garbage.

The problem is dire: Every day, tens of millions of garments are tossed out to make way for new ones. And every year, 101 million tons of clothing end up in landfills. And the trend toward fast fashion — cheap, mass-produced items that chase short-term fads — are only making us more wasteful. The fast-fashion brand Zara produces 450 million garments, with 20,000 new styles each year, which remain in fashion for a limited amount of time until they’re replaced by new styles the following year. If 20,000 sounds like a lot, the “new kid on the block” just asked us to hold their beer. Shein, a Chinese company which has only been around since 2008, releases 6,000 new styles … a day! And not all of those clothes are sold. Many fast-fashion companies are stuck with mountains of excess inventory that they struggle to get rid of.

The holiday season exacerbates the problem. Around Christmas, more people are buying clothes they intend to return, and more people are tossing old clothes to make space for new ones. That’s especially true this year. With the pandemic receding in the rearview mirror, people are planning to buy more winter coats and dress clothes for holiday parties and travel, according to a report from

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Health Advice

January 24, 2023admin

Researchers examine how ADHD traits impact mental health

woman with curly red hair and fuzzy white sweater leaning against a wall in her home office with a laptop on her lap — A new study suggests that adults with ADHD may require more mental health support. Image credit: Counter/Getty Images.

In a collaborative study, researchers analyzed adult questionnaire responses to examine the connection between ADHD traits, autism traits, and mental health issues.
The researchers wanted to find out how much having traits of ADHD or autism increases symptoms of mental health problems.
After analyzing the responses, the researchers concluded that officials need to raise more awareness about the impact ADHD can have on mental health, as they believe that people with ADHD are more likely to internalize their struggles.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects many people from childhood to adulthood. ADHD often has many comorbid conditions, including mental health disorders.

Autism — sometimes referred to as “autism spectrum disorder” (ASD) — can have some overlapping traits with ADHD. However, autism manifests on a wide spectrum, with some individuals experiencing symptoms that can more severely disrupt their quality of life.

For this reason, professional healthcare providers may consider that individuals with autism may face more difficulties in everyday life compared to people with ADHD.

Researchers from the Universities of Bath, Bristol, and Cardiff, and King’s College London — all in the United Kingdom — wanted to see whether people who experience traits of either ADHD or autism also have symptoms of mental health issues, such as depression or anxiety, and to what degree they experience those symptoms.

Through questionnaires they analyzed, the researchers found that people with traits of ADHD are more likely to internalize mental health difficulties than people with autism.

The results of the study are available in the journal Scientific Reports.

ADHD often shows up in early childhood and can be diagnosed in a child as young as 4

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Health Today

February 3, 2016December 20, 2016Melosa

Overall health Impact Assessment Weblog

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