An analysis of opioid-related deaths and the zip codes where they happened illustrated a widespread rise in fatal overdoses all over Philadelphia, according to The Inquirer.
Among Philadelphia neighborhoods, Kensington and Port Richmond reported 209 overdose deaths in 2017, which is a 49.3 percent increase from the year prior.
Just north, neighborhoods including Frankford, Juniata Park, and Crescentville recorded an increase of opioid related deaths of 155.6 percent, compared to a 36 percent jump in 2016 to a 92 percent increase in 2017.
Although national media has focused on the city's open-air heroin encampments, about 75 percent of fatal overdoses in Philadelphia occur in private residences.
"The culture of South Philly is very talkative — they're not shying away from it," said Priya Mammen, MD, the director of public health programs and a physician in the emergency department at Philadelphia-based Methodist Hospital-Jefferson Health, to The Inquirer. "There is a community that is engaged and not wanting to have their neighbors die. The return on investment of educating other parts of the city is huge — it's time to broaden the discussion."
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