US 2020 overdose deaths shot up for black, Native people

Overdose deaths increased 44 percent for black people and 39 percent for Native Americans in 2020 compared to 2019, as the COVID- 19 pandemic disrupted access to care and exacerbated racial inequality, an official report showed Tuesday.

“Racism, a root cause of health disparities, continues to be a serious public health threat that directly affects the well- being of millions of Americans,” US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC) acting principal deputy director Debra Houry said in a briefing.

“The disproportionate increase in overdose death rates among black and American Indian/ Alaskan Native people may partly be due to health inequities, like unequal access to substance use treatment and treatment biases.”

Recent increases in deaths were largely driven by illegally manufactured fentanyl and fentanyl analogs, according to the report from the CDC.

Before the COVID- 19 pandemic, the overdose death rate was similar for black, native and white people, at 27, 26 and 25 per 100,000 people in 2019.

But that changed dramatically in 2020, when the respective figures were 39, 36 and 31 per 100,000 people.

Though the increase among white people was not as great as for black people and Native Americans, the new rate is still a historic high.

Among key findings, the overdose death rate among black males 65 years and older was nearly seven times that of their white counterparts.

Black people 15- 24 years old experienced the largest rate increase, 86 percent, compared to changes seen in other groups.

Areas with a wider income gap between rich and poor had the highest death rates.