Latest news with #fataloverdoses
ABC News
3 days ago
- Health
- ABC News
Fatal drug overdoses reach 10-year high in Victoria, with people aged between 35 and 54 most at risk
More Victorians died of drug overdoses in 2024 compared to any other year in the past decade, a new report shows. According to latest data from the Coroners Court of Victoria, the state recorded 584 fatal overdoses last year, up from 547 the year prior, with illegal drugs remaining the biggest contributor. While Victoria's annual per capita fatal overdose rate remained more or less stable at around 8.1 deaths per 100,000 people between 2015 and 2024, the report noted a significant increase in the involvement of illicit drugs over the same period. Classed under that category are substances such as heroin, methamphetamine, MDMA, cocaine and GHB. Those drugs peaked in use last year in both metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria, contributing to 65 per cent of the total overdose deaths across the state. That represents a 16 per cent increase from 2015, when illegal drugs contributed to 49 per cent of the state's total overdose deaths. "The concerning rise in overdose deaths and especially those involving illegal drugs is a stark reminder that we need to keep building on our harm reduction efforts," Victorian state coroner John Cain said. Tuesday's data breaks down Victorian overdose deaths by three main categories — illegal, pharmaceutical, and alcohol. The report found that pharmaceutical drug use — although over-represented in the overall overdose deaths last year at 69 per cent — has gradually declined over the decade. Meanwhile, the contribution of alcohol in 2024 was consistent with previous years at a rate of 24 per cent. In the past decade, 5,268 people have died from drug overdoses in Victoria and most of those deaths were from combined drug toxicity. Last year, the five top contributing drugs to fatal overdoses were heroin (248), diazepam (219), methamphetamine (215), alcohol (141) and pregabalin (92). Heroin and methamphetamine-related deaths were the highest in the metropolitan local government areas of Yarra and Melbourne city respectively. In regional Victoria, where about a quarter of total fatal overdoses occurred, Greater Geelong recorded a substantially higher number of deaths in 2024 than in previous years at 35, all but one of which were a result of heroin and meth use. Head of policy and practice at the Victorian Alcohol and Drug Association (VAADA), Scott Drummond, said the figures called for increased treatment resources and prevention initiatives in the illicit drug space. "These deaths are the result of a continuing low level of action or almost inaction in response to drug use in the community," he said. "One of the things that was really problematic was the intense debate around the overdose prevention facility, otherwise known as the safe injecting room. However, 95 people aged 55 to 64 also died from an overdose in 2024, compared to 87 the year prior, with numbers fluctuating across the decade. Victoria first introduced a Medically Supervised Injecting Service (MSIR) trial in North Richmond in 2018. But last year the Allan government turned down recommendations for a second such facility to be set up in the Melbourne CBD. despite data at the time pointing to the City of Melbourne as the deadliest council area for drug deaths. It instead committed to a $95 million Statewide Action Plan. That included a new $36.4 community health service, trial of hydromorphone, more naloxone vending machines, expansion of pharmacotherapy — which involves specialist drugs like methadone and counselling — and the appointment of a chief addiction advisor in the Victorian Department of Health. Naloxone is a medicine that rapidly reverses an opioid overdose and comes in the form of a nasal spray, as well as an injection. Under the Take Home Naloxone program launched in 2022, the drug was federally subsidised. But determining which pharmacies or community services can distribute it and how much they are supplied with is up to each state and territory. As part of its health plan the Victorian government also started a mobile pill testing service at music festivals last year. This month it is due to open a fixed site service in Fitzroy. Mr Drummond said those initiatives were welcome but also required a well-funded implementation strategy. "The drug checking service is a great start, but we need to continue to introduce more initiatives, such as increasing the availability of Naloxone, a drug which is easy to administer and reverses opioid overdoses," he said. "We need more overdose prevention facilities, such as the supervised injecting rooms, where the harms are occurring — that's place-based intervention. "We need more resourcing for peer-support services, where folks of lived and living experience of drug and alcohol use can support those that are in the midst of drug and alcohol use. Their support and wisdom is really helpful and really effective. "We need more specialist services responding to misuse of benzodiazepines (a pharmaceutical depressant drug)." Similar measures have also been called for nationally. A five-point prevention strategy recommended last year by The Penington Institute. It has compiled Australia's annual overdose report for 10 years, including drug education, increasing Naloxone access, medication-assisted treatment, drug checking, and supervised consumption. That was based off data showing 2,356 drug-induced deaths across Australia in 2022, 80 per cent of which were unintentional. Victoria's fatal overdose rate was the second-highest in the country after Western Australia.
ABC News
30-06-2025
- Health
- ABC News
'Boeing 737' full of Aussies dying of drug overdoses every month, researchers say
There have been more than 2,000 fatal overdoses in Australia for the tenth year in a row, according to a new analysis by the Penington Institute. The non-profit drug research and advocacy group's CEO, John Ryan, said an early preview of its annual overdose report, due later this year, revealed there was 2,272 fatal overdoses in 2023, equating to an average of 189 per month. "We're losing the equivalent of a Boeing 737 full of Australians every month," he said. "The overdose toll has long exceeded the road toll … it's a huge problem that gets very little attention compared to other causes of death," he said. The majority of deaths (77.8 per cent) were unintentional, the data showed. The report broke down the most recent Australian Bureau of Statistics data on drug induced deaths, which is from 2023. The analysis showed overdose deaths were down by about 6 per cent on the previous year, based on preliminary data which would be subject to updates over the coming months. Mr Ryan said that drop was way too small. "Even if the numbers dropped by 20 or 30 or 40 per cent, it's still too high … it's outrageous that we've got such a huge number of people that are dying." The Penington analysis showed the rate of drug-induced deaths among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples remained significantly higher (21.3 per 100,000 people) compared to non-Indigenous people (5.7 per 100,000). Opioids such as heroin and pharmaceutical opioids remained the most common drug type involved in unintentional deaths, contributing to almost half of all deaths (43.9 per cent), according to the report. Stimulant drugs such as methamphetamine increased by 2 per cent, overtaking benzodiazepines as the second most common drug type involved in unintentional fatal overdoses. Amanda Roxburgh, a senior research fellow and clinical psychologist at the Burnet Institute, said Australia was a major destination for methamphetamine. "It's relatively cheap to buy and it's really readily available," she said. Dr Roxburgh, who was not involved in the Penington Institute report, said while there have been increasing use and harms related to cocaine, that was limited because cocaine was much more expensive. She said crystal methamphetamine was now the predominant stimulant drug used in Australia, and it was often highly potent. "We're not only seeing increases in deaths related to methamphetamine but we're also seeing increases in the hospitalisations," she said. Dr Roxburgh said drug-related deaths involving stimulants, which increase heart rate and blood pressure, often involved cardiac events such as heart failure, blockages to major arteries and heart attacks. Opioid overdoses usually involved depression of the respiratory system, which sees a lack of oxygen to the brain. Dr Roxburgh said overdoses often involved both kinds of drugs. Most drug overdoses involved more than one drug. Mr Ryan said it was not just illegal drugs involved in overdoses, but prescription opioids and benzodiazapines as well. He said that was something he had personal experience of. "The daughter of a friend of mine who went through a messy divorce ended up on benzodiazepines to manage the stress and anxiety. "One night she drank a bit more red wine than usual, fell asleep on the couch and was found dead the next day. Mr Ryan said not only were most drug overdoses accidental, but they also extended to a demographic beyond injecting drug users and those using illicit street drugs. "Many of these deaths are occurring in private homes and often it's lounge rooms in suburbia and regional and rural towns," he said. Suzanne Nielsen, from the Monash Addiction Research Centre, said counterfeit prescription drugs were an issue increasing the risk of overdoses. "We know that these fake or falsified pharmaceuticals look very similar to the real thing. Even pharmacists wouldn't necessarily be able to pick them apart immediately," she said. Professor Nielsen said such drugs were available online and made in illegal labs. "We've got very used to buying things online, but when it comes to pharmaceuticals, it's really not safe," she said. Professor Nielsen said many illegal drugs, including fake pharmaceuticals, could contain powerful synthetic opioids including fentanyl and nitazenes, some of which were "100 times more potent than heroin". Do you have a story to share? Email Professor Nielsen said nitazenes have also turned up in drugs such as cocaine, ketamine and MDMA, which can leave people particularly vulnerable to opioid overdose because their presence was unexpected. In Melbourne last year, four men died after taking drugs laced with nitazenes. The Penington Institute is a not-for-profit drug policy research group with a focus on reducing overdose deaths and drug related harm, and advocates for decriminalisation and regulation of cannabis in Australia. Mr Ryan said overdose deaths were preventable and the high numbers of these deaths each year highlighted the need for a national overdose strategy that focused more on harm reduction and less on policing. He said only a small amount of funding went to harm reduction such as overdose education, opioid overdose withdrawal drug naloxone, drug testing and safe injecting facilities, and with a much bigger share went to law enforcement. He called on the government to implement a community education campaign, including to help people understand the signs of overdose like unusual snoring or gurgling sounds. "That … is often actually the sign of an overdose and there's many deaths that result from people not knowing the signs of an overdose, let alone knowing how to response to that." In a statement a spokesperson for the federal Department of Health said the National Drug Strategy provided a "commitment to harm minimisation through a balanced adoption of evidence based demand, supply and harm reduction strategies". The spokesperson said the government has subsidised opioid dependence treatment medicines through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and was investing $377 million over four years for those treatments to be delivered via community pharmacies. The statement also highlighted the government's ongoing commitment the Take Home Naloxone program which gives Australians free access to the drug which temporarily reverses the effects of an opioid overdose.
