Deaths in relation to class A drugs

You asked

I would like to know the number of deaths where a class-A drug was mentioned on the death certificate and the number of deaths where it was the sole reasoning, from when your records began through to the end of 2017. I would also appreciate figures for 2018, but appreciate it is unlikely that they are available.

If possible, I would like a breakdown of male and female deaths for each year.

We said

Thank you for your request.

Here is a link to our latest bulletin on drug related deaths;

www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsrelatedtodrugpoisoninginenglandandwales/previousReleases

The latest data we have is for deaths registered in 2016. The Excel document in this link has lots of tables. Table 1 shows drug misuse deaths broken down by sex from 1993-2016;

www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/datasets/deathsrelatedtodrugpoisoningenglandandwalesreferencetable

We do not have information on the class of drug involved – only whether it is controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act. We have tried to calculate this in the past, but it is tricky because new drugs are controlled all of the time and some drugs change classification over time.

With regards to 'the number of deaths where it is the sole reasoning'; if you mean deaths where only one drug was mentioned, Table 6b in the above link gives the number of deaths involving selected drugs – where these were the only drug mentioned.

If you have any further questions, you can contact the Mortality Team directly; Mortality@ons.gov.uk.