Overdose prevention efforts must be complemented by harm reduction efforts, according to one expert.
Fatal drug overdose rates have doubled over the past 15 years in Mexico, according to an investigation led by experts from Mexican and American institutions. The overdoses typically involve psychoactive substances and opiates. The deaths often result from a lack of intervention to reverse the drug's effects.
The research team observed a geographic trend toward higher overdose mortality rates in northwestern cities. The rates gradually decreased toward the southeastern regions of the country. Of the 15 cities with the highest rates recorded during the study, 11 are in the four states furthest west along the border with the United States: Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, and Baja California.
Accurately estimating the number of fatal overdoses is very complex, because multiple factors are involved, said Dr Adriana Villafuerte García, a medical surgeon in the Faculty of Medicine at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. It is common for cases to be recorded in death certificates as cardiorespiratory arrest when they were caused by excessive substance use.
In Mexico, simultaneous use of various substances is the second leading cause of hospital admission and death after alcohol. In fact, in 2023, the primary reason for emergency department visits due to illicit drug use was the combined use ofThe document acknowledges that illicitly produced fentanyl has proliferated in certain northern localities of the country. Since 2018, the use of these psychoactive substances has promoted an increase in demand for treatment.
Suggested initiatives to prevent opioid-related deaths include the community distribution of harm reduction supplies such as strips to detect fentanyl, the training of those accompanying drug users, and the reclassification of naloxone, an opioid receptor antagonist that can be used to counteract overdose effects. Under Mexican law, naloxone is classified as a psychiatric medication and not widely available in pharmacies.
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