Vast majorities of New Yorkers believe heroin and prescription opioid abuse are serious public health problems in the state, a survey released Tuesday by the state Department of Health found.

State health officials released their annual survey conducted with Siena College of public health sentiment in the state that measures how New Yorkers feel about health issues, policies and behaviors.

The survey found many New Yorkers are pessimsitic about the state of public health: Only 25% of New Yorkers believe Americans are healthier today compared to a generation ago, and more than half, 53%, believe Americans are less healthy now than they were a generation ago.

“As we advance our statewide public health policies, it’s important to hear directly from New Yorkers which health issues are most important to them,” Acting State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said. “This data will help the Department know where to best target our efforts and what issues matter most to people living in New York state.”

The survey comes nearly three years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and amid a concurrent rise in opioid-related overdose deaths in the state and around the country.

The survey found 88% of respondents believe heroin use is either a very serious or somewhat serious public health problem. A similar number, 90%, believe the misuse of prescription opioids is a very serious or somewhat serious public health problem.

At the same time, 85% believe tobacco use is either a somewhat or serious problem for public health; 82% say the same about e-cigarette and vaping usage.

And 77% of New Yorkers surveyed call alcohol consumption a serious problem.

A large majority of New Yorkers, 85%, support requiring employers to offer paid sick leave to all workers for health screenings, and 64% back increasing the age limit to use indoor tanning devices to 21 years of age. More than half, 59%, want all 11 and 12-year-olds to receive the papillomavirus vaccine.