The Community Drug Strategy in Sudbury said it has changed its leadership and has realigned itself to focus on the recommendations from the Greater Sudbury Summit on Toxic Drugs.
The drug strategy organization said the new executive members and co-chairs are Dr. Mustafa Hirji, the CEO and medical officer of health (MOH) at the Public Health Sudbury and Districts (PHSD), and Heidi Eisenhauer, executive director for Réseau ACCESS Network in Sudbury.
They are replacing former MOH Dr. Penny Sutcliffe and former Greater Sudbury Police Chief Paul Pedersen.
"This means shifting emphasis away from enforcement to more root cause approaches on health promotion, providing comprehensive supports like housing and employment, and substance use care," said the public health news release.
“As the unregulated drug supply becomes more toxic, we must work collectively to reduce harms and save lives, while addressing the root social causes of this crisis to the best of our abilities," said Dr. Hirji, in the release.
"The reinvigorated Community Drug Strategy will build on the outcomes of the Greater Sudbury Summit on Toxic Drugs to develop and implement initiatives to address this complex issue,” Hirji added.
The Community Drug Strategy is building on its foundation to strengthen community collaboration and aims to address harms associated with substance use with increased representation from people with lived and living experience, Indigenous community partners, BIPOC, 2SLGBTQ+, and experts in various fields, said the release.
“The refreshed structure and leadership of the Community Drug Strategy is another step forward in addressing the toxic drug crisis and strengthening our collaborative efforts as a community,” said co-chair Eisenhauer.
“By adding wrap-around supports, like housing, education, and stable employment as a stream of work within the Strategy, we are acknowledging the role that the lack of basic needs plays in the crisis. Substance use care will also combine the former harm reduction and treatment pillars to better represent individuals along the entire substance use spectrum. I welcome the opportunity to co-lead the Community Drug Strategy as we work toward a safer and healthier community for all,” Eisenhauer added.
The new streams of the Community Drug Strategy will address substance use and its impact on community health comprehensively, Eisenhauer said in the release.
She said there were many recommendations included in the summary report from the summit held last December.
This will involve health promotion, education, and collaborative efforts, benefiting all members of the community. These approaches will support the community by increasing access to various services for health and well-being along the entire substance use spectrum and breaking down barriers by addressing stigma, she added.
