The Bay State is once more receiving optimistic information in its struggle in opposition to the drug overdose disaster, as new information reveals that OD deaths considerably dropped in a current 12-month interval.
Massachusetts had about 2,032 drug overdose deaths within the 12-month interval that ended June 30, in keeping with provisional CDC information. That was a significant 23% decline from the two,630 overdose deaths over the earlier 12 months.
The Bay State’s estimated drop of twenty-two.74% in deaths outpaces the nationwide lower of 14.45%.
This promising information for Massachusetts comes within the wake of the Division of Public Health reporting that opioid-related overdose deaths decreased by 10% in 2023 — the biggest single-year decline since 2009-2010.
“We’re cautiously optimistic,” Deirdre Calvert, director of DPH’s Bureau of Substance Dependancy Companies, informed the Herald concerning the new CDC information on Wednesday.
“We’re going to keep plugging away, and we won’t take our foot off the gas,” Calvert added.
Total within the U.S., there have been an estimated 96,801 drug overdose deaths within the 12-month interval that ended June 30. That was a 14.5% lower from the 113,154 deaths within the earlier 12 months.
Along with Massachusetts, overdose deaths dropped throughout New England and in 45 states total. The states with demise will increase have been Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Utah and Alaska.
Calvert cited a number of methods which have helped result in the current drop in Massachusetts, together with increasing entry to Narcan to assist reverse overdoses. In June, DPH had reported that the company since 2023 had distributed greater than 196,500 naloxone kits, leading to not less than 10,206 overdose reversals.
The Bay State is constant to spend money on evidence-based hurt discount interventions, corresponding to fentanyl take a look at strips. In June, DPH had reported that the company had distributed greater than 504,000 fentanyl take a look at strip kits for gratis to suppliers and group organizations.
It’s essential to maintain “letting people know that there’s a tainted drug supply,” Calvert mentioned, noting that the probabilities of even cocaine and methamphetamine “being contaminated are great.”
The state’s opioid overdose prevention efforts embody initiatives to handle the disproportionate impacts of deadly opioid overdoses on communities of colour and in essentially the most rural areas.
“We really need to double down on our efforts to engage communities of color, reaching out to our community partners and ensuring this equity happens,” Calvert mentioned.
Sooner or later, supervised injection websites might assist stop deadly overdoses within the Bay State, in keeping with officers. DPH has discovered that overdose prevention facilities are an “evidence-based, life-saving tool.” Overdose prevention facilities, which have operated for many years in different nations like Canada and Australia, are websites the place folks can use medicine underneath the supervision of skilled employees — who can administer Narcan.
