Staff Reports
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated in a report that was made public on Tuesday that disruptions to care brought on by the COVID-19 epidemic were a contributing factor in record-high overdose mortality in the United States in 2020, particularly among black Americans.
The number of people who died as a result of an overdose in the United States rose by thirty percent between 2019 and 2020, setting new highs. According to the CDC's findings, the surge was even more dramatic among people of color in the United States, with the rate shooting up by 44 percent among black Americans and by 39 percent among Native Americans.
Drug overdose deaths surged by 30% during the first year of the pandemic, with Black and Native American communities bearing a disproportionately higher burden. https://t.co/AGxLP6ySCt
— Axios (@axios) July 20, 2022
There is a good chance that this increase was caused in part by the pandemic, which produced a disturbance in the availability of healthcare and anti-overdose services. According to the organization, "the COVID-19 pandemic as well as disruption in access to prevention, treatment, and harm reduction services have undoubtedly contributed to this spike."
In the past, there were already disparities between the health outcomes of white and non-white Americans, notably with regard to the occurrence of overdoses. According to the CDC, the pandemic did nothing more than worsen those existing gaps. Communities with low incomes suffered a disproportionate amount of damage when treatment was interrupted.
In addition to restricting access to facilities such as clinics for the treatment of drug addiction, the restrictions brought about by COVID-19 led to an increase in the number of mental health problems that were experienced by Americans, which in turn led to an increase in the number of people who used drugs.
The quantity of fentanyl manufactured in China that was smuggled across the southern border contributed significantly to the record number of deaths that occurred as a result of fentanyl overdoses in 2021.
The preceding is a summary of an article that originally appeared on DailyCaller.
