Drug overdose rates reach 10-year high, with painkillers and sedatives used in thousands of cases

Throughout the past 10 years, non-fatal overdose cases were higher among women, accounting for 57% of all cases in 2020. Picture: iStock

Drug overdoses treated at hospitals reached a 10-year high in 2020, with almost 5,500 cases recorded.

There has been a sharp increase in cases since 2015, with numbers soaring between then and 2017, with an even more pronounced jump between 2019 and 2020.