New data released by the Boston Public Health Commission draws into sharp relief the growing severity of the city's opioid crisis. Dr. Bisola Ojikutu, the commission's executive director, told GBH News' All Things Considered that the pandemic had a major impact on patients struggling with opioid addiction.
"During the height of the pandemic, so many people were disengaged from services, from harm reduction, as well as treatment," she said. "We're really still in the phase where we're regrouping and bringing people back into care and trying to address this as aggressively as we can."
Now, Ojikutu said there is an opportunity to do more. Following Massachusett's $230 million settlement with opioid manufacturers, the city of Boston is due to receive about $22 million in funding to help fight the opioid crisis. Okijutu says that community input will be a major factor in how that money is used.
"It is critically important for us to use the funding in such a way that is informed by those communities and by those families who have been most impacted," she said.
In order to gather this community feedback, the Boston Public Health Comission has released an online survey where anyone can share their thoughts about what to do with the incoming funding. The survey is availible in nine languages and will be open until Aug. 9.
The Boston Public Health Commission's report shows that in 2022, opioid-related deaths rose by nearly 7% over the year before. Over the past four years, opioid-related deaths increased by over 36%. Ojikutu said multiple factors have contributed to the rise in deaths, including tainted drugs and that drop in services, as well as systemic barriers.
The report noted stark racial disparities in who is dying of opioid overdoses. Black residents accounted for 30% of all opioid overdose deaths in Boston between 2020 and 2022, and Latino residents accounted for 21%. Black and Latino residents also had a 66% mortality rate from opioid overdoses, compared to 31% for white residents.
"I think it's important for us to consider that there may be significant and reasonable and rational hesitation for a person of color, particularly a Black or Latinx individual, to reach out, to get help to access harm reduction," Ojikutu said. "We have a long history of discrimination and racism within the criminal justice system, and that may certainly deter people of color from seeking harm reduction or treatment."
On top of that, Ojikutu points out the structural barriers that some patients of color face when accessing healthcare, such as the limited access to addiction specialists within lower-income neighborhoods. Breaking down these barriers has become a focus for the Boston Public Health Comission.
"One of the things that we've been doing since I've taken on this role is that we are evaluating our own programing to determine whether or not there is inequity in access to the services that we provide, because we really have to start with our own problems and fix our own house," she said.
