What is the Opioid Epidemic?

Did you know that close to 115 people are dying every day due to opioid overdose?

Yes, that's a fact that needs to be understood and taken very seriously. Over the years opioid misuse has taken the form of an epidemic of mass proportions and we seriously need to do something about it. Off late media has been very active in highlighting the issue. In fact opioid epidemic is the term coined by them, in official terminology; it is referred to as opioid overdose crisis. The situation is really bad and is affecting the very social fiber of the nation.

 How did it all start?

Well as far as we can say it all started in the late 90's. Somehow the pharmaceutical sector of the country was able to convince the drug regulators that using opioids as painkilling medicines will not have any long-term impact on the health of the consumer. What followed was a proliferation of painkillers and their misuse.

Some noticeable points 

• 21 to 29 percent of all those who were prescribed opioids for pain management abused them.

• Almost 8 to 10 percent of these people become a full-blown addict

• 4 to 6 percent of people who misuse opioids move on to become heroin addicts.

This has become a national health crisis. With so much people abusing prescription medicines things are really spiraling out of control.  Apart from the addiction, it is the other added damages that this addiction does which is taking everyone for a spin.

Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome

A syndrome which is crippling the very future of our great nation, it is a known fact that whatever the the growing embryo of pregnant opioid addicts also gets addicted. When such a child is born then he suffers from opioid withdrawal syndrome which in medical terminology is known as neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS). Children born with this syndrome are likely to have lower birth weight and respiratory complicationsmother consumes during pregnancy is directly fed to the child in her womb. The problem here is that.

What are we doing about it?

The government agencies are doing their best for controlling this epidemic. They are providing access to recovery and rehab centers for this addiction. Running campaigns for making people aware of the issues that this dreaded addiction has created for the whole society. We are of the opinion that it’s the battle that has to be fought by the people and everyone should do their part in fighting this epidemic.