The chief physician: Care is hampered by its organization

With 81 deaths per million inhabitants, Sweden is now the country where most people die from drugs throughout Europe, according to a report from the EU Drugs Agency.

Sweden has for several years been second on the list under Estonia - until now.

- If you have followed this, it will not come as a huge surprise, as the data is from 2017 and 2018, says Joar Guterstam.

Have been behind

The Swedish Public Health Agency has pointed out the uncertainty in the report, as not all countries report deaths in the same way.

- But Norway, Denmark and Finland can be compared with, and Norway, for example, has been more concerned about Naloxone distribution and syringe exchanges, which Sweden is only now beginning to catch up with, says Joar Guterstam.

A few years ago, the law on syringe exchanges was also changed, something that has not yet had an impact on the data.

"Politically controversial"

Why is Sweden behind our neighboring countries?

One explanation may be that there has long been opposition to harm reduction measures in Sweden, it has been considered politically controversial.

I also believe that we have been hampered by our unusual organization against addiction, that we have divided it between regions and municipalities.

- It can be a black-and-white game about patients with severe problems, that people end up between the chairs.

This also applies when it comes to developing and introducing new methods.

No one really feels that they own the issue and have the resources to address it.

Hallengren: "Working intensively"

In a written comment to SVT Nyheter, Minister of Social Affairs Lena Hallengren points out that drug mortality has decreased in the last two years:

"But the numbers are still far too high.

Examples of measures so far are that the government, together with the Medical Products Agency and the National Board of Health and Welfare, has worked to make naloxone drugs more accessible, in order to counteract overdoses.

The Swedish Public Health Agency has been commissioned to establish a warning system to combat drug-related deaths, and to work for a faster classification of new psychoactive substances. "