A total of 519 deaths occurred in 2022, which is 69 more than in 2021, according to a new report from the Public Health Authority. The report is based on the latest information that other Swedish authorities have reported to the EU’s drug authority.
The development is worrying, says investigator Mimmi Eriksson Tinghög.
– We do not know if it is a temporary increase and not what it may be due to, and it is important to follow the development and find out more.
The number of drug-related deaths in 2023 has not yet been determined.
The deaths fall into three categories; accidental poisonings (overdoses), intentional poisonings (suicides) and poisonings with unclear intent.
Among men, the number of deaths increased in all three categories, but among women there was an increase in suicides and a decrease in accidental overdoses.
Opioids such as methadone, heroin and fentanyl are involved in most deaths where the substance has been identified.
The user association is hopeful
Despite more deaths in 2022, the trend over time is for deaths to decrease.
Brukarföreningen Stockholm, which works with support and authority contacts for people who use drugs, is hopeful about the future.
– Over time, we have a positive development. Now all regions have syringe exchange and the attitude to naloxone (life-saving nasal spray) has changed enormously, says Jennie Gejel at Brukarföreningen Stockholm.
This week, Region Västernorrland, as the last region in the country, received a reception for syringe exchange in Sundsvall.
Fentanyl possible explanation
Nor can the Brukarföreningen Stockholm answer what the increase in deaths could be due to. But according to Jennie Gejer, a possible explanation could be fentanyl.
The drug is unusually strong and in 2023 many cases were discovered where other drugs were contaminated with fentanyl.
– It is possible that the fentanyl contamination was already present in 2022.
In 2023, Brukarföreningen sent out test strips so that addicts could examine their drugs themselves, and since July 2023, the contamination of fentanyl seems to have stopped, according to the association.