Thread by @IHME_UW

Did COVID-19 lockdowns cause opioid deaths to surge? The answer is complicated, writes researcher Alton Lu in @ThinkGlobalHlth.

Read here ⤵️thinkglobalhealth.org/article/opioid…

Fortunately, many countries were spared and some may even see decreases, according to early findings. But in the United States and Canada, fentanyl and lockdowns were a deadly combination.

Experts had warned for years that fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, would lead to skyrocketing opioid deaths. In many states, the upward trend in opioid deaths began well before the virus landed in the United States. 📈🇺🇸

A combination of factors likely contributed to the increase in US opioid deaths during the pandemic: increasing fentanyl availability, the contamination of other drugs with fentanyl, and pandemic measures.

🇨🇦In Canada, we see a similar story to the US: in provinces where overdose deaths spiked seemingly as a result of the pandemic, fentanyl use was increasing.

Read more here 📰➡️pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31962283/

The picture is very different in Europe. While final data is not yet available, early hospital data show a decrease or flat trend in drug-related emergency admissions in some countries.📉

Supply chain issues made it harder for people in Europe to access their usual illegal drug supplies. At the same time, many European governments loosened restrictions on treatment, including allowing people to take treatment doses home with them.

In many other regions, lack of data make it difficult to ascertain the true impact of the pandemic on opioid overdoses or any other substances, particularly in Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and North Africa and the Middle East.

Read more 📰⤵️sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

Fentanyl is here to stay, and countries like the United States and Canada need to address the issue by implementing bolder policies, such as safe drug consumption sites or drug content testing. At the very least, funding for improved data infrastructure around drugs is key.

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the dangers of indecision & indecisiveness when public health decisions are required. The troubling data on opioid deaths from Canada & the US should push policymakers globally to act quickly to prevent the spread of fentanyl use to save lives.