File photo
Pennsylvania received more than $5 million recently from the federal government to fight the ongoing opioid crisis.
Gov. Tom Wolf’s office announced the $5.1 million comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as part of a cooperative agreement for emergency response in a state where 4,642 drug-related overdose deaths were reported in 2016.
“Much of this funding will be used to strengthen the state’s data collection and analysis, which will help us as we engage with local municipalities to address the opioid crisis,” Wolf said.
The governor’s office said the money will go toward:
- Pharmacy outreach and education;
- Public information campaigns conducted by local health departments;
- Hiring epidemiologists and data staff to continue to assist in data collection;
- Enhancing data collection with additional data sources;
- Working to collect fatal overdose data with coroners;
- Increasing syndromic surveillance to monitor and track opioid overdoses;
- Training for first responders and physicians; and
- Outreach regarding Hepatitis and HIV.
“This funding will continue to assist us as we work to keep our focus on prevention, rescue and treatment. We must ensure that those suffering from substance use disorder get into treatment and on the path to recovery,” Pennsylvania Department of Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine said.
Pennsylvania remains under a Heroin and Opioid Disaster Declaration. Wolf signed the declaration in January and launched a number of programs, including opening a statewide command center in Central Pennsylvania.
