- Details
- By Elyse Wild
The opioid crisis — once characterized by the overprescription of opioids and now by the proliferation of the highly lethal synthetic opioid fentanyl in the drug supply —was first declared a public health emergency in 2017. The declaration was set to expire on March 21, 2025. The renewal extends the declaration for another 90 days.
Opioid deaths quadrupled in the two decades between 2002-2022. 2019-2020 saw the steepest increase at 30%, which experts attribute to the fallout of the pandemic. That year, Native Americans’ opioid mortality increased by 39% — the second-highest rate of increase behind African Americans.
In September 2024, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released data showing, for the first time in years, a decline in overdose deaths among the general population. While the drop has been celebrated among public health advocates and in major media outlets, it’s a different story in Indian Country, where overdoses are on the rise.
After decades of increasing overdose rates spurred by an opioid crisis now characterized by the presence of the highly deadly illicit opioid fentanyl, overdoses declined by roughly 10.6% in the second half of 2023.
Melissa Walls, PhD (Couchiching First Nation and Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe), co-director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health, told Native News Online in November 2024 that the disparity in overdose decline speaks to systemic inequities that have long plagued public health in Indian Country.
“I’m not surprised,” Walls said. “The systems that are put in place to try to address these issues are the same system that created the inequities in the first place, right? They systematically give resources to certain groups over others. Our communities are left behind. So to me, [the numbers] aren’t shocking at all.”
Provisional data from the CDC indicates that the decrease has continued, with overdoses dropping 25.5% in the 12 months ending October 2024 compared with the same period in 2023. It is unclear whether overdoses among Native Americans have increased or decreased in that time.
The declaration of a public health emergency allows the Kennedy certain authorities to respond to the emergency, including making grants, entering contracts, and conducting and supporting investigations into the cause, treatment, and prevention of opioid use disorder.
In a statement released by HHS, Kennedy noted that opioid overdoses are the leading cause of drug-related fatalities and the leading cause of death among Americans aged 18-44.
“This Administration is going to treat this urgent crisis in American health as the national security emergency that it is,” Kennedy said.
More Stories Like This
NCUIH Statement on the Passing of Congressman Raúl M. GrijalvaAlaska Native Tribe Defends Against Claims Its Food Assistance Program is Wasteful Government Spending
Health Equity Round-Up (March 10, 2025)
Senate Committee Advances Ten Bills to Strengthen Tribal Water Rights and Infrastructure
