Drug Misuse: health consequences
In 2008, there were 574 drug-related deaths in Scotland, 119 (26 per cent) more than in 2007 and 325 (131 per cent) more than in 1998( Chart 1).
Males accounted for the vast majority (80%) of the drug related deaths in 2008. Comparing the averages for 1996-2000 and 2004-2008, to reduce the effects of year-to-year fluctuations on the figures, the increase in the number of drug-related deaths was greater for males (68%) than for females (53%) (GROS 2009).
Of the 574 deaths in 2008, 34% per cent were in the Greater Glasgow & Clyde NHS Board area and 16% in Lothian (GROS 2009).
During 2008/09 there were 5,867 general acute hospital discharges with a diagnosis of drug misuse, a rate of 118 discharges per 100,000 population. There has been an increase in the rate of discharges with a diagnosis of drug misuse over the last five years. The rate increased from 92 discharges per 100,000 population in 2004/05 to 118 per 100,000 population in 2008/09 (ISD 2010).
New reports of HIV infected drug users had fallen over recent years from 38 in 1990, to 12 in 2003 and 15 in 2009. The cumulative total number of HIV infected people who inject drugs stood at 1,361 at December 2009 (Health Protection Scotland 2010).
A total of 26786 cases of hepatitis C antibody-positivity had been diagnosed as at 30 September 2009 of which 58% (15467) are known to have injected drugs (McLeod et al 2010).
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