Drug overdose deaths in the United States drop for the first time since 1999

In the United States, deaths due to drug overdoses have declined for the first time since 1999, according to preliminary official data.

Photo: 123RF / Steve Heap 2016

Figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show a decline of 5.1% in 2018 compared to the previous year.

Health and Social Services Secretary Alex Azar said this was due to a decline in the number of opioid-related deaths.

US efforts "to combat opioid use disorder and addiction work," he said in a statement, although he added that the problem "will only be not solved overnight. "

The United States is going through an opioid crisis. It is thought that hundreds of thousands of people have died in recent decades.

The number of fatal drug overdoses has increased every year from 1999 to 2017, with a sharp increase between 2014 and 2017.

Experts blame part of the powerful and addictive painkiller prescription epidemic for over-prescription.

CDC research indicates that about 68,557 people died in 2018, up from 72,224 in 2017.

Deaths from natural and semi-synthetic opioids – badgesics such as morphine, codeine, and oxycodone – decreased by 14.5%, the largest decline of any drug category.

However, those related to synthetic opioids such as fentanyl have further increased. Fentanyl would be up to 100 times more potent than morphine and would have flooded the illegal drug market in the United States.

The number of deaths attributed to cocaine and methamphetamine also increased in 2018.

"Lives are being saved and we are starting to win the battle against this crisis," said Azar's statement, hailing the efforts of the Trump administration and the community's efforts to across the United States.

But though he described the decline as "encouraging", Mr Azar said "that we have not in any way declared victory over the epidemic or addiction in general" .

"This crisis has developed over two decades and will not be solved overnight."

The Washington Post reports that the largest US pharmaceutical companies distributed 76 billion pills for oxycodone and hydrocodone pain between 2006 and 2012.