(Reuters) – Nearly 87,000 Americans died from drug overdose in the United States in the 12-month period ending September 2024, a decline of about 24% from the previous year, according to preliminary data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released on Tuesday.

WHY IT’S IMPORTANT

This is the fewest overdose deaths in any 12-month period since June 2020, according to the CDC.

The Trump administration has said destroying the fentanyl supply chain and ending the U.S. overdose epidemic are among its top priorities.

CONTEXT

Fentanyl is the leading cause of drug overdose deaths in the United States where the epidemic is fueled by a shadowy supply chain for precursor chemicals, mostly from China, which are then synthesized into finished fentanyl by drug cartels in Mexico.

More than 450,000 Americans have died of synthetic opioid overdoses over the past decade, with millions more addicted.

The U.S. drug overdose death toll crossed the 100,000 mark for the first time in 2021 driven by disruption of emergency medical care and increased mental health problems in the wake of the COVID pandemic.

The widespread availability of lethal drugs such as fentanyl and other illegal drugs further exacerbated the situation.

BY THE NUMBERS

Deaths involving opioids fell to an estimated 61,393 in the 12-month period ending September 2024 from 86,621 a year earlier, the data showed.

Deaths related to synthetic opioids, including fentanyl, dropped to an estimated 55,126 in the 12-month period ending September 2024 from an estimated 79,432 in the previous year, according to CDC.

KEY QUOTES

“It is unprecedented to see predicted overdose deaths drop by more than 27,000 over a single year,” said Allison Arwady, Director of CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.

“That’s more than 70 lives saved every day,” Arwady added.

(Reporting by Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)

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