Drastic action, including medically-supervised injecting, is required to curb soaring numbers of people dying from unintended drug overdoses, say experts.
In the five years 2019-’23, 94 have died in unintended overdoses in Greater Dandenong – the third highest council area in the state behind Geelong and Brimbank, according to a recent Penington Institute paper.
The Greater Dandenong toll rose 62 per cent in a decade.
Penington Institute is calling for a ‘towards zero’ approach to curb the “full-blown health crisis” claiming more than six Australians a day.
It wants a national overdose prevention strategy, to reconvene the Ministerial Council on Drug Strategy and for more funding of overdose prevention and less on law enforcement.
In 2023, nearly 500 Victorians died from an unintended overdose – about two-and-a-half times the state annual road toll.
“We’re losing significantly more Australians to drug overdoses than on our roads,” Penington Institute CEO John Ryan said.
“Much like we’ve adopted an ambitious ‘towards zero’ approach to aggressively pushing down the road toll, Australia must now embrace a similarly uncompromising push to stop overdose deaths.”
According to a recent state coroner’s report, more harm-reduction measures were required to curb a 10-year high in overdose deaths involving illegal drugs in 2024.
At the same time, the involvement of pharmaceutical drugs in Victoria was at a 10-year-low.
Most overdoses were accidental or unintentional (74.5 per cent) rather than suicide, the Coroner found.
Greater Dandenong featured the second-most fatal overdoses involving methamphetamine in the past decade (73), and the fifth most involving heroin (114).
Turning Point clinical director Shalini Arunogiri said the “devastating numbers reflect significant gaps in our healthcare response”.
For heroin, there were effective medications such as methadone and buprenorphine, but access to treatment was “increasingly difficult”.
“With methamphetamine, the challenge is more complex.
“One issue is that people often use multiple substances simultaneously, which increases overdose risk.”
Assoc Professor Arunogiri said overdose prevention measures needed to match the scale of need.
“We have the evidence and the tools to save lives, but we need more action.
“Everyone deserves access to quality healthcare when they need it, regardless of their location or situation.”
Medically supervised injecting rooms were a “really effective, evidence-based way to reduce overdose deaths”.
“Many areas could benefit from services like these.
“It can be a complex decision considering where to situate facilities to achieve the best outcomes for the community, and it depends on what they’re aiming to achieve.
“These services should be accessible and built to meet community needs, both in terms of location and opening hours.”
Victorian Alcohol and Drug Association chief executive Chris Christoforou said alcohol and other drug treatment services were unable to cope with requests for help, resulting in wait times of up to months.
In response to a surge in heroin-related overdoses, he called for more medically supervised injecting in high-risk areas.
“The continuing debate on the value of medically supervised injecting led by misinformed and stigmatising narratives has sadly stymied further support.”
The Penington paper also found more older people succumbing to drugs – including a 305 per cent rise in people in their 50s.
Opioids featured in nearly half of unintended overdoses.
Stimulants such as amphetamines and MDMA are now the second biggest factor, overtaking benzodiazepines.
