Maryland's opioid epidemic highlighted by new health department dashboard
BALTIMORE - Maryland's health department rolled out a new tool that can paint a clear image of the opioid crisis.
The interactive dashboard allows people to zoom in and see where deadly overdoses are located and who is impacted the most by the ongoing opioid crisis. It also compiles data on non-fatal emergency department visits and incidents when Naloxone, an overdose reversal medication, was administered by EMS.
"This dashboard will enable Marylanders who are at the forefront of the opioid and overdose crisis, along with the individuals and organizations supporting them, to have broader access to data and trends in overdose, and will further aid in data-driven decision-making in response," said Maryland Health Secretary Dr. Laura Herrera Scott.
Demographic trends
The data details emerging trends by providing demographic insights such as a person's age, ethnicity, gender and zip code of where the overdose took place.
The 21215 zip code, for example, where the Park Heights community sits led in opioid-related deaths in Baltimore City between June 2023 to May 2024.
"It's about education"
Fahim Kashif, a Physician Assistant at SUMAT Center - Dundalk, said the tool will help narrow the focus of where to deploy necessary resources.
"It's about education, being out in the community letting patients and family members and whoever is in this struggle with us, this fight with us that there are resources in the community and they're readily available as well as the mental health counseling," Kashif said.
"Save the world"
The center, located on Holabird Avenue, offers Medication-Assisted Treatment to patients as well as Hepatitis C treatments.
Kashif said the center ensures the patient is connected with other wraparound services, including mental health care.
"I feel like I can save the world and that's my mission to try to save as many people as I can," Kashif said.
Historic trends
Under the 'Historic Trends' tab of the new tool, it shows the number of people who died from a fatal overdose between 2014 to 2023.
State data reveals a steep and steady rise in opioid-related deaths that began in 2016 with 1,856 fatalities.
The dashboard shows a slight decrease in 2019 compared to the year before but reports a sharp jump in 2020 and 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In each of those years, more than 2,500 people in Maryland lost their lives during an opioid-related overdose.
The newest data from the dashboard shows the decrease in fatal overdoses has continued in 2024, so far.