Health tsar says overdose deaths in the United States begin to occur

(WASHINGTON) – The number of drug overdose deaths in the United States has begun to stabilize after years of relentless increases due to the opioid epidemic, health secretary Alex Azar said on Tuesday. it was too early to declare his victory.

"We are so far from the end of the epidemic, but we may be at the end of the beginning," said Azar in a speech prepared for a health care event sponsored by the Milken Institute think tank.

The fight against the opioid epidemic has been the rare problem that unites Republicans and Democrats in a politically divided country. A bill providing for significant funds for treatment was passed under former President Barack Obama and two others followed under President Donald Trump.

More than 70,000 people died of a drug overdose last year, according to preliminary figures released this summer by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an increase of 10% over 2016.

Azar said in his speech that towards the end of last year and early this year, the number of deaths "began to peak". Azar did not predict a decrease in the number of deaths, but noted that they appeared to be increasing. a slower rate than previously seen.

Earlier this month, the CDC released figures – also preliminary – showing a slowdown in the number of overdose deaths in late 2017 and the first three months of this year. According to preliminary figures from the CDC, these figures show that the pace of the increase over the last 12 months has slowed from 10% to 3%.

Despite the slowdown, the country is still at the heart of the most deadly drug overdose epidemic in its history. Opioids have been implicated in most deaths, killing nearly 48,000 people last year.

While deaths from prescription opioids and heroin seem to be stabilizing, deaths involving fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamines are increasing. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is much more potent than heroin and is used as an additive in illicit drugs.

In an interview with The Associated Press this summer, an expert from the CDC said the number of overdose deaths seemed to be improving, but it was too early to draw definitive conclusions.

Monthly data show a stabilization in the number of deaths, said Bob Anderson, senior statistician at the National Center for Health Statistics. However, these figures are considered preliminary because death surveys are not completed in all cases.

"It seems at this point that we have peaked and we can start to see a decline," Anderson said. "It reminds me of what we saw with HIV in the 1990s."

The final figures for 2018 will only be available at the end of next year and the situation could also worsen, not better.

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Johnson brought back from Seattle.