Media Release
International Overdose Awareness Day: Looking back, moving forward
HAMILTON, ON – Drug overdose is a significant health issue in Hamilton, like in many cities across the country, with devastating effects for individuals, families, and communities. On Thursday, Hamilton marks International Overdose Awareness Day with its fourth Overdose Awareness Day gathering, this year at Gage Park.
The annual gathering, organized by Public Health’s Mental Health & Harm Reduction program, is intended to offer families, friends, and service partners a safe space to acknowledge their grief, and pay tribute to those whose lives have been affected by overdose. The event is also intended to reduce stigma of a drug-related death, and to prevent death from overdose.
The event features representatives from over 25 local community agencies with information booths, including City of Hamilton public health staff who will provide overdose response training and naloxone kits. There will be educational opportunities; speakers, some of whom have had their lives impacted by overdose and/or substance use and a memorial board on which attendees can post memorial tributes (pictures, poems, articles) for loved ones they have lost to overdose.
Event details
Date: Thursday, August 30, 2018
Time: 12 noon to 2 pm
Location: Gage Park (band shell area), 100 Main Street East
Speakers:
- His Worship Mayor Fred Eisenberger
- Renée Thomas-Hill
- Randy Loyer
- Rev. William MacKinnon
Additional resources
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Opioid Crisis
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