HHS awards $79.1M in grants for International Overdose Awareness Day

In recognition of International Overdose Awareness Day, HHS announced it is awarding $79.1 million in overdose prevention grants as a part of President Joe Biden’s National Drug Control Strategy.

“To address overdose prevention, HHS is working to expand access across the full continuum — prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery supports — in an effort to help save lives,” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a press release from HHS.

In May, the CDC estimated that more than 107,600 overdose deaths occurred in 2021 — the largest number of reported overdose deaths in a 12-month period. The estimate was a 14.9% increase from overdose deaths in 2020, which previously held the record for overdose deaths in a 12-month span.

The $79.1 million in grants will be broken up as follows:

• $32.7 million for Medication-Assisted Treatment – Prescription Drug and Opioid Addiction, which will provide resources to help expand and enhance access to medications for opioid use disorders and decrease illicit opioid use and prescription misuse;
• $14.5 million for the First Responders-Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Support Services Act, which provides resources to first responders to train, carry and administer federally approved drugs and devices for emergency reversals of known or suspected overdoses;
• $12.1 million for the Services Grant Program for Residential Treatment for Pregnant and Postpartum Women, which provides pregnant and postpartum women and their children with substance-use treatment and recovery support services across residential and outpatient settings;
• $8.2 million for Targeted Capacity Expansion: Special Projects, which will implement targeted strategies for the provision of substance use disorders or concurrent disorder harm reduction, treatment and/or recovery supports services for under-resourced populations or unmet needs in the community;
• $7.1 million for Rural Emergency Medical Services Training Grants, which help rural areas recruit and train EMS professionals with a focus on addressing mental and substance use disorders;
• $3 million for the Strategic Prevention Framework for Prescription Drugs grant program, which will provide funds for state agencies, territories and tribal entities to target prescription drug misuse; and
• $1.5 million for Provider’s Clinical Support System – Universities, which will provide resources to train graduate-level students in medical, physician assistant, nurse practitioner and other eligible programs in treating opioid use disorders and prescribing medications for them.