Heart attacks, strokes, cancer and car accidents have been major causes of death for generations. More recently, COVID-19 emerged as a killer. But there is something else out there that is claiming increasing numbers of lives: overdoses.

Last year, 470 Iowans died from overdoses, according to data released by the state government. In 2020, there were 419 overdose deaths. In 2019, there were 350 such deaths. The number of overdose deaths is going in the wrong direction – in other words, up – even as the medical profession scores more and more successes against the old foes such as heart disease and cancer. Most of these new overdose deaths are attributed to powerful painkillers called opioids.

To call attention to the problem, Wednesday was proclaimed International Overdose Day. In the area, a couple of events were held to mark the day. Participants at one learned how to administer the drug Narcan, which reverses the effects of an opioid overdose. During another, people heard the moving story of a local woman whose son died at the age of 19 after accidentally taking the painkiller hydrocodone mixed with fentanyl. He was seeking relief from back pain caused by a previous accident, and had run out of his prescribed pain pills.

While some may quickly dismiss overdoses as a problem for hard core drug users, that young man’s life and death reveal that an overdose could claim anybody.

International Overdose Day is over. The need, the urgency, to prevent such deaths is far from over.

There are some basic things people can do to prevent the threat of overdoses. Keeping prescription medicines out of the reach of children is one simple thing everyone can do at home. And when those prescriptions aren’t needed anymore, get rid of them properly. Most local pharmacies will take medicines back to properly dispose of them. Local law enforcement agencies conduct what they call drug take back events once or twice a year, which provide another opportunity to get rid of unneeded pills.

Anyone who is struggling with drug addiction or knows someone who is should get professional help. Fear of some kind of stigma should never keep anyone from seeking lifesaving help for an addiction.

The threat of overdose deaths is real. We should all do whatever we can to prevent them.