Jim Higgins
Question:215 Mr. Higgins (Mayo) asked the Minister for Health and Children the number of people who have died as a result of drug addiction in each of the years 1997, 1998, 1999 and to date in 2000. [16646/00]
Vol. 521 No. 1
215 Mr. Higgins (Mayo) asked the Minister for Health and Children the number of people who have died as a result of drug addiction in each of the years 1997, 1998, 1999 and to date in 2000. [16646/00]
Information on drug related deaths is collected by the Central Statistics Office for the general mortality register in accordance with guidelines developed by the World Health Organisation using international classification of diseases code 9, which includes deaths due to drug dependence and poisoning by opiates and other narcotics. In the past few years there has been ongoing discussion between the drugs misuse division of the Health Research Board, the Central Statistics Office and other relevant actors, and efforts have been made to improve the reliability of reports of drug related deaths. These deaths are based on death certificates which often give the main cause of death as a medical condition other than drug use, although drug use may have been implicated in the death.
Year |
No. of deaths |
1997 |
55 |
1998 |
99 |
1999 |
80 |