April 14th is the anniversary of the Province declaring a public health emergency due to the increase in opioid overdoses.
Six years after the public health emergency, close to 1,500 people lost their lives to an overdose within the Interior Health region.
IH mental health and substance use teams and community partners will be displaying black balloons in communities across Interior Health tomorrow. (Thursday)
The awareness is inspired by the International Black Balloon Day, which took place on March 6th.
“We’d really like people to acknowledge language first.” says Helen Jennens, Leadership member of Moms Stop The Harm.
“We can all change our language around the overdose crisis and addiction, and make it a lot less stigmatizing.”
Jennens encourages anyone to fly a black balloon to acknowledge their understanding of the declaration.