CDC Vital Signs
"Drug Overdose Deaths Increase
and Disparities Widen"
Drug overdose data show troubling trends
and widening disparities between
different population groups.
In just one year,
overdose death rates increased 44% for Black people
and 39% for American Indian and Alaska Native people.
Most people who died by overdose
had no evidence of substance use treatment before their deaths,
and a lower proportion of people
from racial and ethnic minority groups had evidence of prior treatment,
compared with White people.
In addition, overdoses are becoming more common and deadly.
Mixing drugs
or using more than one drug
(polysubstance use)
and the increasing spread of illicitly manufactured fentanyls,
or IMFs,
in the drug supply are major concerns.
It is critical for prevention efforts
to address polysubstance use
while also working to reduce historical health inequities,
promote primary prevention,
and expand proven treatment,
recovery support services,
and harm reduction strategies.
"What Can Be Done to Prevent Overdose"
Drug overdoses are preventable.
Public health professionals,
healthcare providers,
policy makers, and communities
can take several actions to prevent overdose deaths, such as:
expanding insurance coverage
to help those who encounter barriers
to accessing treatment and recovery support services,
reducing barriers to access
and staying in treatment
by offering structural support such as
housing and transportation assistance,
and reducing stigma
around seeking substance use disorder treatment,
harm reduction,
and recovery support services.
Healthcare providers can treat substance use disorder by:
linking people to care and recovery support services
from different settings (such as telehealth)
and helping people start
and continue in treatment and care,
improving access to treatment,
recovery support services,
and harm reduction strategies,
and reducing barriers
to proven treatment and care,
and including culturally tailored traditional practices,
spirituality,
and religion with proven treatment and care.
Communities can support harm reduction by expanding:
distribution of naloxone,
a lifesaving drug that can reverse the effects
of an opioid overdose when administered in time,
access to fentanyl test strips,
syringe services programs
that include overdose prevention efforts,
and connections to same-day
substance use disorder treatment,
and education about substance use
and overdose risks
to include employers,
Medicaid and other health insurance payers,
and policy makers.
"What Everyone Can Do to Prevent Overdose"
Everyone can take action
to reduce overdoses and prevent overdose deaths.
Talk to a doctor
if you or a loved one needs help for substance use.
Ask your doctor or pharmacist
for a naloxone prescription
or get naloxone from a local organization
if you or a loved one uses illicit drugs,
has a substance use disorder,
takes high-dose prescription opioids,
or has other risk factors
for an opioid overdose.
Read and share resources
about overdose prevention.
Learn more about reducing stigma,
which can be a major barrier to getting help.
For more information, please visit
www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/.