According to the task force, it succeeds through rapid response and provision of a range of services such as peer support and drug therapy, as well as expanding availability of the overdose reversal treatment naloxone. The CONNECT program, supported by federal and state funds, provides free, confidential resources and referrals for those who have experienced or witnessed an overdose. The pre-pandemic high of 30 fatalities in 2018 was eclipsed in 2020, when 33 deaths were recorded. Worcester County had the largest increase with 331 deaths, a rise of 17.8%.Ĭountering the grim statistics, besides Franklin County, opioid-related overdose deaths fell by almost 23% in Berkshire County and by 16% in Hampshire County.Īlthough the year-to-year decrease in Franklin County is significant, from 48 deaths to 36, according to information provided by the task force, the figure for 2022 is still higher than for any other previous year. The fatality rate of 33.5 per 100,000 people reflects a 2.5% increase over 2021 and a 9.1% increase from 2016, the pre-pandemic peak.

Statewide, there were 2,357 confirmed and estimated fatal opioid-related overdoses in 2022, according to data the Department of Public Health published last week. “As opioid-related fatalities continue to climb in the state, post-opioid overdose follow-up and outreach programs play a crucial role to reduce fatal and non-fatal overdoses,” Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan, a task force co-chair, said in a statement. Officials with the Opioid Task Force of Franklin County and the North Quabbin are attributing the county’s 25% drop in deaths to an overdose follow-up and outreach program it launched in 2021 known as CONNECT. NORTHAMPTON - While numbers for Massachusetts as a whole show 2022 was the worst year on record for opioid-related deaths, Hampshire, Franklin and Berkshire counties saw significant declines in fatalities last year.

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