Hannah Hammoud
Brimbank recorded the state’s second-highest number of overdose deaths in Victoria in 2023, new data reveals.
The Victorian Coroner released the Victorian overdose deaths report on November 8, which showed 29 people in Brimbank died of overdoses in 2022, the highest figure in the municipality in the past 10 years.
It was up from 16 in 2021 and was only second behind the Melbourne local government area, which had 32 deaths last year.
Brimbank was also second for the number of heroin overdoses in 2022.
Nineteen people died of heroin overdose in 2022 – more than double the number from the year before which stood at eight.
It’s the equal highest numbers of overdose deaths in Brimbank in the last 10 years, equal with 2017.
The data showed that 230 Victorian’s died from heroin overdose in 2022 compared to 173 in 2021, representing a 33 per cent increase state wide, while overall there was 549 overdose deaths, up from 500 in 2021.
Community health service cohealth chief executive Nicole Bartholomeusz. said the latest report was a wake-up call for policy makers and said there is much work to be done to improve community understanding of addiction.
The organisation is calling for a supervised injecting room service to be established in the Melbourne CBD as concerns for drug overdose deaths grow.
“In the face of these staggering numbers, we need a broad-based response that includes improved access to pharmacotherapy, introducing pill testing, the establishment of an overdose prevention service and making Naloxone more easily available in the community,” she said.
“Every one of these deaths is tragic and could have been prevented if we had the right policy settings and health systems in place.
“It is critical for us as a community to recognise that addiction is a health issue that needs a health response.”
“At cohealth we support people who use drugs with wraparound health and social supports, including GPs, nurses and social workers. But we can’t help people once they are dead.”
