There were 11 drug related deaths registered in the Fermanagh and Omagh District in 2018, almost trebling from 2017 when four drug related deaths were registered.

These are some of the statistics published by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA).

Between 2014 and 2018 there have been 30 drug related deaths in the Fermanagh and Omagh District.

In 2014, the number of deaths registered was four before increasing to six in 2015 and then falling in 2016 to five.

Overall in Northern Ireland, the 2018 total of 189 is more than double that recorded a decade ago, 89, and has risen by 39 per cent over the year, from 136 in 2017.

Drug-related deaths accounted for 10 deaths per 100,000 people in 2018. In terms of all deaths registered in Northern Ireland in 2018 (15,922), drug-related deaths accounted for 1.2 per cent of the total.

The figures further show that between 2017 and 2018, the drug-related mortality rate increased for both males and females. The rate for males increased from 11 per 100,000 males to 14.4; for females the equivalent rate rose from 3.7 per 100,000 females to 5.9.

Of the 189 drug-related deaths in 2018, 72 were in the 25-34 age group with a further 50 in the 35-44 age group. These figures equate to age-specific, drug-related mortality rates of 29 deaths per 100,000 people, aged 25-34 and 20.9 deaths per 100,000 people, aged 35-44.

More than 85 per cent of all drug-related deaths in 2018 were classed as drug-misuse deaths, compared with 59.6 per cent in 2008. The rate of death relating to drug-misuse increased from three deaths per 100,000 people in 2008 to 8.6 deaths per 100,000 people in 2018.

Half of drug-related deaths in 2018 involved three or more drugs. In contrast, in 2008 almost half of drug-related deaths involved one drug. Since 2010, over half of drug-related deaths each year have involved an opioid.

In 2018, a total of 115 drug-related deaths had an opioid mentioned on the death certificate. Heroin and morphine were the most frequently mentioned opioids in 2018, connected to 40 drug-related deaths, up from 24 in 2017 and the highest number on record.

Drug-related deaths involving cocaine increased from 13 in 2017 to 28 in 2018 and is the highest level on record.

Diazepam was listed in 40.2 per cent of all drug-related deaths in 2018, a similar proportion to that recorded in previous years. Drug-related deaths involving Pregabalin, however, have risen consistently since its first appearance in these statistics in 2013; the annual number of deaths involving this controlled substance rose from nine in 2016, to 33 in 2017 and 54 in 2018.

Almost 23 per cent of all drug-related deaths in 2018 also mentioned alcohol on the death certificate, a proportion which has remained relatively consistent over the last five years.