美國藥物濫用致死人數持續上升，對人口造成“毀滅性影響”

美國藥物濫用問題已經成為一個嚴重的公共衛生危機。據美國有線電視新聞網（CNN）10月11日報道，最新數據顯示，美國濫用藥物致死人數每月仍在增長。美國疾病控制與預防中心國家衛生統計中心的最新估算顯示，在截至5月的12個月內，超過11.2萬人死于藥物過量，較前一年增加了2700多人。哥倫比亞大學流行病學教授凱瑟琳·凱斯稱，2023年美國藥物濫用致死人數仍然呈上升趨勢，“這無疑表明藥物濫用對人口健康的毀滅性影響”。

Supplies for patients at OnPoint NYC are pictured at the newly formed nonprofit that operates a overdose prevention center in the Harlem borough of New York on Feb 8, 2022. [Photo/Agencies]

There were 112,024 overdose deaths in the 12month period ending in May, compared with 109,261 in the 12month period ending in May 2022, a 2.5% increase.報道稱，截止今年5月的12個月內，全美共有112024人因服藥過量死亡，而截至2022年5月的12個月內為109261人，增幅為2.5%。

Dr. Katherine Keyes, a professor of epidemiology at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, noted that the increase is leveling off.哥倫比亞大學梅爾曼公共衛生學院流行病學教授凱瑟琳·凱斯博士指出，這一增長趨勢正在趨于平穩。

“We still have an extraordinary number of overdose deaths that is orders of magnitude higher than we’ve seen in previous years,” she said. However, “the increase that we [saw] in 2021 has slowed down.”她說：“美國仍然有大量的服藥過量死亡病例，比前幾年高出幾個數量級。但較2021年的增速有所放緩。”

Overdose deaths spiked 30% between 2019 and 2020 and rose another 15% between 2020 and 2021, according to the CDC.美國疾控中心數據顯示，2019年至2020年間，藥物濫用致死人數激增30%，2020年至2021年間又上升了15%。

“There were extraordinary increases in 2020 and 2021 that have started to flatten out in 2022 – now going into 2023. They’re not declining yet,” Keyes said. “But the pace of the increase is certainly slowing.“2020年和2021年出現了異常增長，但在2022年開始趨于平緩，2023年仍沒有下降趨勢，但增長速度肯定在放緩。

"So that is both good news and indicative of a continuing public health crisis.”CNN稱，這既是一個好消息，也預示著一場持續的公共衛生危機。

Keyes highlights that these small accumulation of overdose deaths are still putting 2023 on track to be another devastating year amid the drug epidemic.凱斯強調，藥物濫用致死人數慢慢積累，2023年或將成為又一個毒品泛濫的災難性年頭。

“It’s still slightly higher than previous 12month periods. So, it certainly still indicates just a devastating impact on population health,” she said.她說：“藥物濫用致死人數仍然略高于之前的12個月。因此，這無疑表明藥物濫用仍然對人口健康存在毀滅性影響。”

Certain states – particularly in the western United States – have seen steep increases in deaths in comparison with national totals.與全美總死亡人數相比，一些州，特別是西部州死亡人數急劇增加。

Washington had the highest increase: more than 37% from the year ending May 2022 to the year ending this May, from 2,373 to 3,254.華盛頓州增幅最高：從截至2022年5月的一年到截至今年5月的一年，增幅超過37%，從2373增至3254。

來源：中國日報網