The opioid epidemic cost the U.S. economy at least $631 billion from 2015 to 2018, according to a Society of Actuaries’ (SOA) analysis of non-medical opioid use.
The Penn State Center for Security Research and Education, in collaboration with Penn State Harrisburg, Penn State Homeland Security Programs, and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA), held a tabletop exercise that addressed first-responder and whole-community response and resilience to the ongoing opioid crisis.
Drug overdose deaths in the United States declined 5.1% in 2018, according to data by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics.
Globally, 35 million people are estimated to suffer from drug use disorders and who require treatment services, according to the latest World Drug Report, by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
The Opioid Detection Challenge, a $1.55 million USD global prize competition, has been launched by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T), in collaboration with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS).
Under NH Project FIRST “quick response teams” of first responders will visit an individual at home after an overdose call and offer to connect them with services at their local treatment center.
A study from investigators at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Institute for Technology Assessment projects that the opioid overdose epidemic in the U.S. is likely to increase in coming years.
For the first time in U.S. history, a person is more likely to die from an accidental opioid overdose than from a motor vehicle crash, according to National Safety Council analysis.
