More die from drug overdoses

Illustration. Overdose drug pill tabletIllustration. Overdose.Photo: pixabay.com

289 people died due to drug overdoses last year, the highest figure since 2004, according to fresh figures from the Folkehelseinstituttet (NIPH).

2004, 301 people died by overdose’, reported Klassekampen newspaper.

Overdose deaths last year rose to 24 more than those in 2014. From 2014 to 2015, the death toll increased in all parts of the country, except the West Coast. In recent years the average has numbered 263 deaths per year. The Government’s goal is to decrease the number of deaths every year, but the goal isn’t yet achieved.

‘This is primarily, very sad. We have an overdose strategy with an ambitious goal of annual decline. So far we haven’t succeeded in breaking the stable trend for many drug-related deaths’, said Fredrik Wang Gierløff of Health and Care Services.

 

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today