Trainings Health Information System (HIS) Policy Toolkit This toolkit provides tactical and technical guidance for developing a new HIS policy. The technical guidance can also be used to update and revise an existing HIS policy.
Fact Sheets Practicing Harm Reduction in the COVID-19 Outbreak In partnership with harm reduction colleagues, we have developed guidance for syringe services/harm reduction providers and safer drug use in the COVID-19 outbreak.
Publications Simulating the Impact of a Cigarette Minimum Floor Price Law on Adult Smoking Prevalence in California Minimum floor price laws are an emerging tobacco control policy that sets a minimum price below which a specific tobacco product cannot be sold. By using a microsimulation model to predict changes in smoking for different population groups in California under several floor price scenarios, this study demonstrated that minimum floor price laws have the potential to reduce adult smoking prevalence overall, and especially for lower-income tobacco users.
Publications Experimental Studies of Front-of-Package Nutrient Warning Labels on Sugar-Sweetened Beverages and Ultra-Processed Foods: A Scoping Review This scoping review described a conceptual model for how front-of-package nutrient warnings affect consumer behavior, examined which of these outcomes are currently being measured, and summarized evidence from randomized controlled experiments. Twenty-two studies that experimentally tested nutrient warnings against a control label or other labeling systems were included for full-text review.
Publications Addiction at Any Cost: Philip Morris International Uncovered STOP (Stopping Tobacco Organizations and Products) has published new analyses that show Philip Morris International is addicting new users to its IQOS product because its cigarette business is under threat, not because it solely wants smokers to quit. According to “Addiction at Any Cost: Philip Morris International Uncovered,” PMI also continues marketing its cigarettes to young people and undermining global progress to reduce smoking.
Program Overview Treat TB Clinical Trial Vital Strategies successfully completed implementation of the USAID-funded TREAT TB project, aimed at supporting research to optimize the effectiveness of TB diagnosis and treatment.
Publications Vital Strategies and Partners Organize Training for Criminal Defense Lawyers to Fight Drug Overdose Homicide Laws The Overdose Prevention Program partnered with the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Health in Justice Action Lab, and other stakeholders to deliver a first-of-its-kind training on criminal defense against drug overdose homicide cases in Pennsylvania. The curriculum and presentation materials from the training are available, and National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers has a useful resource page on drug overdose homicide.
Vital Strategies Is Partnering with Hospitals Across Pennsylvania to Implement Best Practices for People With Opioid Use Disorder in Emergency Departments. In collaboration with the Hospital and Healthsystems Association of Pennsylvania (HAP), the Pennsylvania College of Emergency Physicians, and the Healthcare Improvement Foundation, Vital Strategies is working to reduce overdose deaths in Pennsylvania by working with hospitals across the state to standardize and adopt best practices. Archived webinars and additional resources are available to the public through the network’s resources page.
Toolkit Medication-Assisted Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder in Jails and Prisons: A Planning and Implementation Toolkit Vital Strategies and the National Council for Behavioral Health have developed a toolkit to help jails and prisons implement and expand access to medications for opioid use disorder, such as methadone and buprenorphine, for incarcerated people struggling with opioid dependence.
Publications Over-the-counter naloxone needed to save lives in the United States The effects of opioid overdose can be dramatically reduced through increased access to the opioid antagonist naloxone. But naloxone is too often unavailable when and where it is most needed, partly due to its continued status as a prescription medication. This commentary argues that the Food and Drug Administration should reclassify naloxone from prescription-only to over-the-counter status.