Public health issue on opioid epidemic

Public Health Issue: Opioid Epidemic
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Public Health Issue: Opioid Epidemic
Introduction
It is estimated that over 115 people in the United States perish daily following opioid overdose (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2018). In 2016 alone over 42,000 deaths due to opioid were recorded and out of this number, 40% was due to prescription opioid (HHS.org, 2018). Addiction to and misuse of opioids, including other prescription heroin, pain relievers, and synthetic opioids such as fentanyl have become a public health issue impacting the economic and social welfare of affected people. Estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that the economic burden of misuse of prescription is $78.5 billion annually (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2018). These estimates account for addiction treatment, lost labor force, involvement in criminal justice, and healthcare costs. This paper provides a brief background regarding the issue of opioid epidemics and describes how this problem creates a threat to a community. Possible interventions to address opioid epidemics at both individual/family level and community level will be discussed. The paper will describe the role of different disciplines outside public health in addressing the issue and finally discuss the role of the community, state, and federal resources in supporting public health interventions.
Rationale
Towards the end of 1990s, pharmaceutical companies convinced the medical fraternity that patients given opioid to relieve pain would not get addicted. This is the time when the rates of prescription opioid increased as healthcare providers started its prescription to their patients. An increase in opioid prescription resulted in a widespread misuse of both prescription and non-prescription opioid prior to discovering that opioid could indeed lead to high levels of addiction. Later in 2017, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) declared opioid addiction a public health issue (HHS.org, 2018a). The HHS then announced five recommendations to address the issue of opioid epidemic. Opioid epidemic result in a number of devastating adverse effects, including an increase in misuse of opioid and related overdoses and increasing cases of newborns who experience withdrawal syndromes when mothers misuse the drug while pregnant.
A report released by Case and Deaton (2015) showed increasing morbidity and mortality rates among White non-Hispanic Americans largely due to drug overdose in the light of increase use of prescription opioid. According to Hansen and Netherland (2016), the little acknowledged cause of this racial trend is regulation and marketing of opioid that gave the White Americans the privilege of unparalleled access to prescription opioid. This scenario shows how racially disparate the U.S drug policies and delivery of healthcare services have eventually affected the White population (Hansen & Netherland, 2016). This fact can be confirmed by checking the figures of decreasing life expectancy of White Americans beginning 1998, exactly two years following the U.S Food and Drug Administration approval of OxyContin. The FDA had described the drug as “minimally addictive” drug to be used in relieving pain. Following this announcement, there was a rapid uptake of the drug, especially in White states, including Kentucky, Maine, West Virginia, and Virginia (Hansen & Netherland, 2016).
Interventions to Address Opioid Epidemic
The first step is to treat patients with opioid addiction in hospital settings. In these settings, healthcare providers can participate in routine evidence-based testing and management of opioid use disorder (OUD). Patients are usually treated with opioid agonist agents such as naloxone/buprenorphine or methadone. These drugs have been shown to reduce the mortality rates by 50% for OUD persons, decrease viral hepatitis acquisition and HIV infection, increase retention rates in rehabilitation programs, reduce illicit drug use and crimes, and improve the overall social functioning (Hansen & Netherland, 2016).
The medical education system can also offer an ideal opportunity to strengthen knowledge and understanding in regards to drug addiction and pain management among healthcare practitioners. Most practitioners usually rotate different teaching hospitals and this makes it easier for them to have the chance to learn more about opioid prescription and pain management among their patients. Topics that are relevant in addressing opioid epidemic include appropriate prescription practices for opioid, alternative pain management, screening and treatment options for...