Opioids top list of 'emerging issues'
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on August 14, 2018 5:50 AM
The growing opioid crisis is topping the list of "emerging issues" on the Wayne County Community Health Assessment.
In the latest State of the County Health report, while some things like leading causes of death and the ongoing need for primary care physicians stayed the same, the opioid crisis is definitely an area of concern in this community, said Brittany Davis, health education specialist.
Davis presented the SOTCH report during the recent Board of Health meeting. The health education division publishes the report in off years between the community health assessments, she explained.
"The purpose is to review each of the county priority areas as well as to report to the community an observed trend of efforts as well as progress being made," she said. "We are currently in the process of working to complete the next community health assessment for 2018, which is due in March of 2019."
Davis added, "Wayne County, like many areas across the state as well as the country, is dealing with the growing opioid crisis that we have. In 2017, in the emergency department (at Wayne UNC) alone there were 486 recorded cases of medication and drug overdose with one of the most recorded diagnoses being that of opioids."
According to the SOTCH report, "until the recent national and statewide spike in drug-related overdoses, the deaths in Wayne County have quietly gone unnoticed for several years."
"Heroin and other opioids have disrupted the lives of too many of our residents and have brought so much damage to our families and communities," the report said. "Every day, three North Carolinians die from an opioid overdose. Of just the emergency department visits for residents of Wayne County, from January to December 2017 there were 486 reported medication/drug overdoses. Of the most common diagnosis, 76 of the overdoses were connected to opioids, 64 were related to heroin and 18 were from benzodiazepines."
A list of the 13 most common benzodiazepines found in the U.S., according to the Physician's Desk Reference, include Xanax, Librax and Valium.
In response to the climbing statistics, the community Substance Abuse Task Force has been reconvened, under the acronym CALM, for Coalition for Addict and Life Management, Davis said.
"Also in response to the opioid crisis, the coalition, the Health Department and other community partners are working to secure funding and to develop programs as well as messaging techniques to help reverse the trend within our community."
Health Director Davin Madden pointed out that the situation is not the sole responsibility of the Health Department.
"This is not a burden that we take on by ourselves," he said. "We do the SOTCH report for the community, but the areas of concern highlighted in the community health assessment were countywide -- this is the voice of the community.
"It's a responsibility for all the stakeholders in the community to be cognizant of that as well as to work collaboratively to address those issues."
Madden said the issue is gaining traction statewide as well as nationally. The topic was prominently featured on the agenda of the recent health director's conference he attended and is not going away.
His office has been working with local health officials as well as law enforcement to address the problem.
The Health Department also recently received a $150,000 grant to develop strategies as part of the N.C. Opioid Action Plan.
Also in the SOTCH report, Davis said the top five causes of death have not changed drastically since the 2015 report -- cancer, heart disease, stroke, chronic lower respiratory disease and diabetes.
Cases of cancer, heart disease and diabetes have increased, she pointed out, while stroke and lower respiratory disease have declined.
"Cancer is our leading cause of death, at 23 percent of the deaths," she said. "Out of those, three out of 10 were related to lung cancer, which is also the leading cause of cancer-related deaths.
"The next leading cause of death is heart disease, coming in at 20 percent."
In the 2015 report, three priority areas were also identified: access to care; health conditions, such as diabetes; and education.
"Priority No. 1 was access to care," Davis said. "In last year's SOTCH report we stressed the importance of the need of more primary care providers in our area. Strides have been made and are being made by Wayne UNC and their partner affiliates to hire physicians that offer more specialty areas within our area, but primary care physicians are still a great concern."
One area showing remarkable success is in addressing diabetes and pre-diabetes, Davis said. Wayne UNC Center for Nutrition Diabetes offers assistance and the Health Department along with the YMCA provide year-long classes that focus on positive lifestyle changes, she said.