The BC government announced this week that it has appointed an advisor to aid the decision making process in matters of mental health and addictions.
Dr. Daniel Vigo is the candidate who was successful in this appointment by the Province and his title will be BC’s Chief Scientific Advisor for Psychiatry, Toxic Drugs and Concurrent Disorders.
Dr. Vigo’s role will span across multiple disciplines with the goal of improving care for patients with mental health challenges, addictions, brain injuries and any other adjacent psychological matter.
In this role, he will also work with Dr. Bonnie Henry, the Provincial Health Officer, all regional health authorities, Indigenous partners and British Columbians with lived experience of these challenges to analyze existing treatment services in BC.
Dr. Vigo can then review the data and best practices and analyze other jurisdictions for solutions that may benefit the system in BC.
The Province says he will report to the government regularly so new ideas can be brought forward in a timely manner.
“As the toxic-drug crisis changes, we’re facing new challenges and grappling with a growing group of people who are very sick and struggling in our streets and emergency rooms,” said Premier David Eby.
“The current situation is not working for these people and it’s not working for our communities.”
Jennifer Whiteside, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions says that the current state of the ongoing toxic drug crisis is becoming increasingly more challenging and Dr. Vigo’s role may help mitigate some of the issues.
“Synthetic opioids are significantly more powerful, dangerous and unpredictable than they were even 10 years ago,” said Whiteside.
“There are people who are suffering from opioid use disorder and concurrent mental illness, who have now acquired brain injury from multiple overdoses and struggle to navigate life and the health-care system.”
The Province says that users of synthetic opioids are becoming more prone to traumatic brain injury following an overdose and these people have struggled to receive the care they need given their unique challenges.
“There’s an extremely high prevalence of brain injury in overdose survivors,” said Dr. Vigo.
“In fact, at its most severe, half survivors die in the immediate future and another third in the near future.”
He says that for those who survive, the barriers that must be faced can seem insurmountable.
The Province hopes for this new role and the work done by Dr. Vigo will help reduce the amount of deaths stemming from toxic drug use.
According to the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC), from January 1st, 2015, to December 31st, 2021, at least 52,227 people in the province had a drug poisoning event.
Of those, 41,401 British Columbians (79%) suffered a non-fatal drug poisoning event, which oftentimes results in a traumatic brain injury that severely impacts the way those people live their daily lives.
