April 15, 2021— More than 87,000 Americans died of drug overdoses over the 12-month period ending September 2020, according to provisional data released by the CDC, the highest number of overdose deaths ever recorded in a single year in the United States.
Statement from Daliah Heller, Director of Drug Use Initiatives at Vital Strategies:
“The latest CDC data is devastating confirmation of what public health professionals have been witnessing and communities have been experiencing for the past year,” said Daliah Heller, Director of Drug Use Initiatives at Vital Strategies. “For people who use drugs, COVID-19 is a pandemic upon an epidemic. But we can’t vaccinate our way out of the overdose crisis. Our systems and policies for dealing with drug use are ineffective and often harmful, stigmatizing and pushing people back into situations and settings where overdose risk further increases, including the carceral system.
Harm reduction – proven, community-based solutions that emphasize support instead of punishment for people who use drugs – is the public health solution to this crisis. Just four weeks ago, President Biden signed the CARES Act into law, securing a landmark $30 million in federal funding for harm reduction interventions, such as syringe services programs, and overcoming decades of stigma against this approach.
Now is the time to follow on this important gesture with a massive surge investment in the next budget to stem the record number of overdose deaths. Surge funding could save lives immediately, connecting people who use drugs with lifesaving services and support. State and local officials must also draw upon their resources to fund and support the harm reduction programs working the frontlines of this enduring crisis. The twin scourge of COVID-19 and overdose is falling most heavily on Black communities, and the need for relief is more urgent now than ever before.”
About Vital Strategies
Vital Strategies is a global health organization that believes every person should be protected by a strong public health system. We work with governments and civil society in 73 countries to design and implement evidence-based strategies that tackle their most pressing public health problems. Our goal is to see governments adopt promising interventions at scale as rapidly as possible.
To find out more, please visit vstrategystage.wpengine.com or Twitter @VitalStrat.
About Vital Strategies’ Overdose Prevention Program
In November 2018, Bloomberg Philanthropies announced a $50 million investment to address the country’s overdose crisis. The initiative—a first-of-its-kind partnership between Vital Strategies, Pew Charitable Trusts, CDC Foundation, and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health—is helping up to 10 states implement solutions over three years to strengthen and scale up evidence-based, data-driven interventions to reduce risks of overdose and save lives.
Media Contacts:
Tony Newman: tnewman@vitalstrategies.org; 646-335-5384
Christina Honeysett: choneysett@vitalstrategies.org; 914-424-3356