From January 2020 through January 2021, more than 2,100 Kentuckians died of drug overdoses. That’s a 59 percent increase from the year before.
At the Madison Opioid Response and Empowerment program conference on Wednesday, Kentucky Commissioner for Public Health Dr. Steven Stack discussed the uptick in overdoses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Stack said a multifaceted approach to substance use disorder is critical. Especially ensuring access to programs like syringe exchange services.
“Harm reduction is incredibly important to avert other harms that come as collateral consequences of injecting drugs and using illicit substances through drug injection, where hepatitis and HIV can explode into local and regional epidemics very quickly — if people continue to use dirty and contaminated needles.”
Stack said participants in the Madison County syringe exchange program nearly tripled from 2019 to 2020.
Nonfatal overdoses have been prevalent in Madison County emergency departments. With record COVID-19 hospitalizations, Stack asked that people only visit emergency departments if they are experiencing emergencies.
