The number of deaths from suicide and alcohol- and drug-induced fatalities in the United States reached a record 141,963 — or one every four minutes — in 2016, a new analysis by the Trust for America’s Health and Well Being Trust finds.

The issue brief, Pain in the Nation Update: Deaths From Alcohol, Drugs and Suicide Reach the Highest Level Ever Recorded (14 pages, PDF), found that alcohol, drug, and suicide deaths rose 11 percent on a year-over-year basis — a record increase for the second consecutive year. The analysis also found disproportionately large increases in drug deaths among people of color; while white Americans still had the highest rate of drug deaths (22.9 per 100,000), up 19 percent from 2015, the rate among African Americans (17.6 per 100,000) and Latino/as (9.6 per 100,000) jumped 39 percent and 24 percent, respectively. In addition, suicide rates rose 10 percent for African Americans and 9 percent for Latino/as, compared with 5 percent and 1 percent for Asian Americans and white Americans….

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Reference:  Philanthropy News Digest

February 27, 2018