International Overdose Awareness Day: August 31 |
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As International Overdose Awareness Day approaches, during a year of interlinked public health crises, NIOSH reflects on the work that has been done and the road ahead in the wake of the nation’s overdose epidemic and the global COVID-19 pandemic. |  Photo by ©Thinkstock |
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In 2018, there were 67,367 drug overdose deaths in the United States. Of these deaths, 46,802 deaths, or 69%, were attributed to opioids. From 2012 to 2018, the rate of drug overdose deaths involving psychostimulants such as methamphetamine increased nearly five-fold, and overdose deaths involving cocaine tripled.1 From 2011 to 2016, there was an annual increase of 24% in occupational drug overdose deaths.2 Clinically diagnosed substance use disorders, including opioid use disorder, are medical and public health problems that can affect workers and conditions in the workplace. People without formal diagnoses of substance use disorders are also at risk for overdoses. Substance use disorder can not only impact the ability to function safely at work, it can also hinder return to work following an injury or illness, which in turn may negatively affect a person’s livelihood. Increased stress and anxiety and reduced coping strategies due to the COVID-19 pandemic may lead to increased alcohol and substance use, which could compound the impact of the overdose epidemic. 3,4,5 To respond to these growing risks among workers, NIOSH has worked diligently to provide information and resources for employers and workers on substance use, overdose prevention, and treatment. |
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