Health experts are urging Canada to declare a national public health emergency to deal with the country's deadly opioid crisis.
Politicians gathered with public health experts, doctors and advocates -- many of them ordinary Canadians who've lost loved ones to drugs -- during day-one of a two-day summit in Ottawa aimed at hashing out possible solutions to the problem.
The House of Commons health committee is also recommending such a declaration
N-D-P health critic Don Davies said there's a clear consensus that leadership and effective co-ordination at the federal level would have a major impact on reducing overdose deaths in Canada.
Health Minister Jane Philpott has admitted she's unhappy with a lack of data and surveillance programs that could shed light on how many opioids are prescribed, where they are coming from and how many people are overdosing and dying.
However, she says the problem requires a concerted, multi-pronged approach among multiple jurisdictions and won't be solved overnight.