8% homeless population increase between 2006 and 2007, the highest rate since 1992
91.2% drop over the past 13 years in the number of children who have tested positive for elevated lead
65.2% percentage of 2006 infant deaths that were black
35.8% increase in chlamydia cases among blacks between 1999 and 2006
60,210 visits to emergency departments in 2006 for injuries due to accidents
BOSTON. While the overall mortality rate is declining in Boston, the number of deaths related to drug use are on the rise.
There were 176 deaths caused by drugs and alcohol in 2006 compared to 96 in 1999, according to health officials. Meanwhile, the number of substance abuse deaths among women nearly doubled, from 29 in 2005 to 54 in 2006, and whites had the highest rate of substance abuse deaths, roughly 18.2 higher than the overall Boston rate in 2006.
The Health of Boston 2008 report was released yesterday, and researchers found that drug use resulted in the fifth-leading cause of death in Boston in 2006, marking the first time drugs and alcohol outranked chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to join cancer, heart disease, stroke and injuries from homicide and car crashes as the leading causes of death.
Barbara Ferrer, executive director of the Boston Public Health Commission, said the city continues to see problems with abuse of opiates and prescription drugs, as well as combining the two. She said the city is analyzing each drug-related death case to identify trends, but wouldn’t speculate on specific reasons for the increase.
“I think what we do know is that we continue to have a problem in the city that we see in own treatment facilities,” Ferrer said.
