According to a distressing new analysis, over 150,000 Americans died due to alcohol, drugs, and suicide in 2017.
To be more precise, the figure – 151,845 – is more than twice as it was in 1999. The data from the CDC was analyzed and evaluated by America’s Health and Well Being Trust.
According to the analysis, the combined death rate for alcohol, drugs, and suicide increased by up to six percent from 2016 to 2017. The researchers of the study found that it rose from 43.9 to 46.6 deaths per 100,000 people.
While the jump is a bit lower than the last two years, the figures are higher than the four percent annual increase since 1999.
The reports mentioned, “Americans are now dying at a faster rate from overdoses involving synthetic opioids than they did from all drugs in 1999.”
It has been found that opioid overdose deaths have skyrocketed to 45 percent from 2016 to 2017, which has increased 10 times in the last five years. Over 1,000 Americans died from opioid overdose every two weeks in 2017.
The report also found that suicides increased faster from 2016 to 2017, which has jumped four percent from 13.9 to 14.5 deaths per 100,000 people. The researchers said the highest death rate from suicide continues to occur among males and those living in rural areas.
The analysis noticed that 2017 death rate from alcohol, drugs, and suicide among people (aging 35 to 54) was 72.4 per 100,000 people.
For all males, the rate was 68.2 per 100,000. For all females, the rate was 25.7 deaths per 100,000.
John Auerbach, the President and the CEO of the Trust for America’s Health said, “We need a comprehensive approach with attention to the upstream root causes – like childhood trauma, poverty and discrimination —and the downstream life-saving efforts – like overdose reversal and access to treatment—and everything in between.” He also said, “A focus on only one or two approaches won’t work with complex and widespread epidemics like these. As a nation, we need to better understand and to systematically address the factors that drive these devastating deaths of despair.”
