Number of deaths related to drug misuse falls again
By William Smith
Official figures have just been released which show a record 6% fall in the number of deaths related to drug misuse in England. In 2009 the figure stood at 1,731 whereas for 2010 the figure is 1,625.
This is the second successive annual reduction and means the latest total for England is, once again, lower than the 1,697 which was recorded in 2001.
In a press release from the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse Paul Hayes, NTA chief executive, said:
“The fall in the number of deaths from drug misuse reflects encouraging trends shown by official drug treatment statistics, indicating declining demand for treatment, particularly among the under 30s, and a reduction in overall heroin and crack use and injecting.
“The NTA continues to work closely with local teams to prevent deaths and health harms from drug misuse wherever possible. This will be a key part of the new public health system which is being created to promote public health and encourage behaviour change to help people live healthier lives and help reduce mortality.
“The best way to prevent deaths from drug misuse is to not use drugs in the first place. For those that do misuse drugs, the best way to prevent death is to support people to recover from addiction. The government’s new Drug Strategy is clear that the goal of all treatment is to enable people to overcome dependence and achieve sustainable recovery.”
The Office for National Statistics report records the total number of deaths from drug-related poisoning in England and Wales in 2010.
This involves both legal and illegal drugs and includes accidental poisoning and attempted suicides. From this data is derived the smaller number of drug misuse deaths, defined as either (a) deaths where the underlying cause is drug abuse or drug dependence or (b) deaths where the underlying cause is drug poisoning and where any of the substances controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act (1971) are involved.
