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CDC awards $28.6 million to further combat opioid overdose epidemic
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The CDC recently awarded $28.6 million to 44 U.S. states and Washington, D.C., to support efforts against the opioid overdose epidemic.
“One piece of HHS’s five-point strategy for combating the opioid crisis is improving our understanding of the epidemic through better public health data,” HHS Secretary Tom Price, MD, said in a press release. “The expansion of these CDC programs, made possible by legislation President Trump signed earlier this year, is an important piece of our commitment to helping states combat the scourge of opioid addiction and overdose.”
In July 2017, the CDC awarded more than $12 million in funding for the opioid epidemic to 23 states and Washington, D.C.
This expanded funding is part of HHS’s five-point strategy to combat the opioid epidemic, which entails:
- Increasing access to prevention, treatment and recovery services, including medication-assisted treatments;
- Improving availability and distribution of overdose-reversal medications;
- Establishing an understanding of the crisis through improved public health data and reporting;
- Providing support for new pain and addiction research; and
- Advancing better practices for pain management.
Funding will allow the CDC to support all states funded through its Overdose Prevention in States (OPIS) effort, which includes three programs: Prescription Drug Overdose: Prevention for States (PfS); Data-Driven Prevention Initiative (DDPI); and Enhanced State Opioid Overdose Surveillance (ESOOS).
Approximately $19.3 million in funding will be awarded to 27 states in program expansion supplemental awards under the PfS program, while $4.6 million under the DDPI will be given to 12 states and Washington, D.C.
The PfS program and DDPI funding will be used to advance prevention activities by increasing use of prescription drug monitoring programs and improving associated clinical feedback, and expanding the reach of messages regarding opioid-related risks.
PfS supplemental awardees include Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
DDPI supplemental awardees include Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, South Dakota and Washington, D.C.
Under the ESOOS program, $4.7 million in funding will be awarded to 32 states and Washington, D.C., to improve tracking and prevention of opioid-related nonfatal and fatal overdoses.
ESOOS supplemental awardees include Alaska, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Washington, D.C., West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
“Drug overdoses have dramatically increased over the last two decades in America,” Brenda Fitzgerald, MD, director of the CDC, said in the release. “This additional CDC funding to states, who are on the frontlines of the opioid overdose epidemic, is critical to help them scale up prevention efforts to fight this crisis and save lives.”