A recent report from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services showed a decrease in opioid-related overdose deaths for 2022 to 2023. There have also been fewer overdoses locally, according to Washtenaw County officials.
Washtenaw Health Department Communications Coordinator Beth Ann Hamilton says the county has seen a 30% decrease in opioid-related deaths dropping from 80 in 2022 to 56 in 2023.
Hamilton adds the Health Department is continuing their efforts to help Black residents after a troubling overdose report was released last year.
“We’ve had a pretty alarming increase in Black residents dying from overdoses from 2021 to 2022. We want to make sure that, as overdoses are decreasing, that we’re seeing that happen to everybody in the county.”
Hamilton says a major reason that fewer local residents are dying of overdoses is because of the increasing number of sites carrying free naloxone and other harm reduction materials.
The health department will be releasing their 2023-2024 statistics within the next few months.
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