Opioids, cancer top concerns in Algoma Public Health’s latest community profile

Algoma Public Health delivered its latest Community Health Profile at its main office on Willow Avenue Wednesday.

Presented by Dr. John Tuinema, APH acting medical officer of health in a room filled with representatives from several health care agencies, the report outlined a variety of health care challenges facing the Sault and Algoma District’s population.

Not surprisingly, the Sault and Algoma District’s opioid crisis and cancer rates — many new cancer cases due to smoking — are at the top of the list of concerns.

Other concerns involve illnesses associated with an aging population, mental health, sexual health, cost of living and food insecurity, oral health, chronic diseases such as heart disease and dietary concerns such as declining fruit and vegetable consumption in APH communities.   

“The opioid crisis is significant and it is particularly difficult because it appears to be growing in many ways and it really affects younger individuals very early in their adult lives so that certainly brings it to the top of the list,” Tuinema told SooToday after Wednesday’s presentation.

As SooToday previously reported, there were 13 opioid toxicity deaths reported in Sault Ste. Marie between January and March of 2024. With a death rate of 69.6 per 100,000, Sault Ste. Marie recorded the highest opioid toxicity mortality rate in the province for that quarter.

“We know that in our community there are a number of very significant health trends affecting us and one of them is the ongoing opioid crisis. We know that we are consistently in the top three communities in Ontario for opioid mortality. We’re working closely with community partners to not just provide information but look at upstream approaches that can help deal with the ongoing crisis,” Tuinema said.

That “upstream approach” is a preventive medicine approach, Tuinema said, creating healthier living conditions that contribute to a healthier population.

“People who have safe affordable housing and access to employment are less likely to end up running into substance use issues in their life and we need to be taking that society approach to tackle this issue as opposed to only focusing on the issue of treatment. The economic determinants that impact health such as income are a big influence on our health so anything that we can do to improve our economic well being such as access to quality stable employment will go a long way to improving health.”

“We’re looking at the social reasons why that may occur,” Tuinema said.

“Some of the determinants that can affect things are the average income for our area, levels of employment as well as the levels of high quality employment. Stable employment can go a long way as well as access to things like healthy food, opportunities for healthy and active living and the environment of the communities we live in. Are our communities conducive to things like walking to work or bicycling? That’s a taste of those upstream factors that affect health.”

The APH Community Health Profile showed that the Sault and Algoma District has the highest rate of new cancer diagnoses, many of those cases linked to smoking.

Algoma has higher rates of smoking, heavier drinking and cannabis use compared to the provincial average. The rate of daily smoking in Algoma is over 16 per cent compared to just over 10 per cent for Ontario the APH report states.

“We have the highest incidence of new cancers in Ontario and we know that the vast majority of those cancers could be prevented with quitting smoking as well as reductions in alcohol consumption,” Tuinema said.

“We’ve been hearing it for decades now. There are very few people who don’t know the dangers of smoking but that's where we must ensure those that are ready to quit have readily accessible avenues to do so through their primary care providers,” Tuinema said, acknowledging the shortage of primary care providers in Sault Ste. Marie and Algoma.

While urging smokers to kick the habit, Tuinema said more education is needed on the link between heavy alcohol use and cancer.

“A lot of research has been done over the last 10 to 15 years that has shown alcohol contributes to cancer a lot more than we previously thought. There are seven cancers in particular that are significantly influenced by alcohol consumption,” Tuinema said.

They include colorectal, liver, stomach, breast, head, neck and throat cancers.

Algoma Public Health has urged the federal government to put warning labels on bottles of alcoholic beverages.

Bill S-254, An Act to amend the Food and Drugs Act, calls on the federal government of Canada to implement alcohol warning labels that: 

• Indicate the volume of alcohol in a standard drink
• Display health messages regarding the relationship between the number of standard drinks consumed and health outcomes, including the risk of cancer.

“There are bills in different legislatures provincially and federally as well that are looking at putting more detailed information on bottles of alcohol, knowing just how much is in there beyond the percentage of alcohol so that people can make those informed choices about how much they want to drink,” Tuinema said.

Tuinema said APH couldn’t do its work without the help of community partners such as Sault Area Hospital, primary care clinics, medical specialists and organizations such as Algoma Family Services, Canadian Mental Health Association, Alzheimer Society and many others.

Algoma Public Health’s last Community Health Profile was delivered in 2018.

APH typically releases such profiles every three to five years but Tuinema said that due to delays caused by the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic APH began compiling the latest profile 18 months ago. 

The Community Health Profile can be viewed on Algoma Public Health’s website.