The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services' Division of Public Health's Injury and Violence Prevention Branch has received $939,000 in funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to prevent overdose deaths related to prescription opioids.
This funding, allocated through the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC), is part of the Prescription Drug Overdose: Prevention for States program. It will support 16 states with annual awards from $750,000 to $1 million each over the course of the next five years to implement prevention strategies. Funding will support:
- Prescription drug monitoring programs
- Improvements to opioid prescribing practices
- Prevention efforts at the state and community level
- "Rapid response projects" to address new and emerging problems related to prescription drug overdose
"We have an opportunity to really impact the overdose epidemic that North Carolina communities are experiencing by better coordinating state and county efforts," said Dr. Ruth Petersen, Chronic Disease and Injury Section Chief within the North Carolina Division of Public Health. "In 2014, we had more than 1,000 overdose deaths, mostly driven by prescription opioid medications and increased heroin use."
North Carolina's participation in the Prevention for States program is part of CDC's efforts to provide resources and support to advance comprehensive state-level interventions for preventing prescription drug overuse, misuse, abuse and overdose in participating states.
This program will allow the Division of Public Health's Injury and Violence Prevention Branch to continue and enhance its successful collaboration with other N.C. DHHS Divisions, the N.C. Harm Reduction Coalition, the State Bureau of Investigation, the University of North Carolina Injury Prevention Research Center and local health departments.
For more information on overdose prevention in North Carolina, see https://injuryfreenc.dph.ncdhhs.gov/
For additional information about Prescription Drug Overdose Prevention for States, see http://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/states/state_prevention.html.