BOSTON — For the third straight year, the number of opioid-related related deaths in the Bay State climbed, according to the Massachusetts Department of Health. The continued increase has prompted governor Maura Healey to invest over $1 billion in intervention and care, the administration announced Thursday.
There were 2,357 confirmed and estimated opioid-related overdose deaths last year, an increase of 2.5 percent from 2021, says the MDPH.
Non-Hispanic Black residents suffered the highest increase, from 36.4 deaths per 100,000 to 51.7 deaths; a 42 percent increase.
Males compromised 72 percent of all opioid-related deaths in 2022 with Non-Hispanic Black men having the highest opioid death rate amongst all gender, race and ethnicity groups. Forty-seven percent of all opioid-related overdose deaths were between 25 and 44 years old.
Over the next 18 years, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey plans to inject $1 billion received through various opioid legal settlements back into the state’s Opioid Recovery and Remediation Fund.
The fund currently supports $15 million in loan forgiveness for SUD workers employed by BSAS licensed facilities an$11.5 million annually for expanded harm reduction programming, access to Medication for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD) such as buprenorphine and methadone, and supporting low threshold housing.
The Healey administration also plans to invest $100 million for MassHealth to reimburse for critical substance use disorder services. The administration hopes to add a $67 million investment in rate increases for Opioid treatment programs, establish an overdose prevention hotline this summer and increase access to harm reduction supply vending machines.
The DPH will also increase therapeutic outpatient services for youth and adolescents with SUD in the Merrimack Valley through a targeted grant program.
In 2024, the DPH hopes to examine and produce a plan for the possibility of overdose prevention sites and to identify areas with a lack of treatment centers such as Cape Cod and rural areas to address the limited access.
“As Attorney General, I made combatting the opioid crisis a top priority, and that commitment continues as Governor while we work to provide individuals and communities with the support they need for treatment, prevention and recovery,” said Governor Maura Healey. “Too many Massachusetts families, particularly families of color, have been impacted by this crisis, and in order to effectively respond, we need to address the gaps in the system by advancing long-term solutions that include housing, jobs, mental health care and more resources for our cities and towns.”
In December 2022, the MDPH reported that Opioid-related deaths were on the decline through the first nine months of the year.
Initial data from the first three months of 2023 showed a 7.7 percent decrease in opioid-related deaths over the same period in 2022, according to DPH.
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