Manchin, Capito Applaud Crucial Funding for West Virginia to Combat Opioid Abuse

U.S. Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) applauded $53 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Health Human Services (HHS) that will support six programs in 44 states administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
“This funding will help reduce opioid overdose-related deaths, raise awareness of the dangers of drug abuse, track nonfatal opioid-involved overdoses and will bring us one step close to ending the opioid epidemic once and for all,” Manchin said. “This funding puts real resources behind these programs, which are imperative to combating this crisis on the ground. Since the President traveled to Charleston for a town hall on opioid abuse and saw firsthand the impact opioid abuse has had on West Virginians, the Administration’s efforts to combat this epidemic have dramatically increased. I especially applaud West Virginia native Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell and her colleagues for joining me in this critical fight to treat and prevent opioid addiction. It is clear that our country has reached a crisis point and this funding and these programs bring us one step closer towards a comprehensive, commonsense strategy to end this epidemic.”
“I have consistently said that we are at risk of losing an entire generation if we don’t combat the opioid epidemic with a spectrum of solutions. That’s why I fought for this vital funding as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and worked to ensure that West Virginia has the right resources to address the scourge of addiction. These grants aim to help reduce the number of overdose deaths, improve the monitoring of opioid overdoses and strengthen drug prevention. They will also raise awareness about the dangers of overprescribing, a strategy I have supported through bipartisan legislation. I am hopeful that this funding will be helpful in West Virginia’s efforts to stem the devastation caused by the opioid crisis,” said Capito.
Through the SAMHSA and CDC programs below, West Virginia, among other states, will be the recipient of the following funding:
•    The Prescription Drug Opioid Overdose Prevention Grants will provide up to $11 million to 12 states to reduce opioid overdose-related deaths. Funding will support training on the prevention of opioid overdose-related deaths as well as the purchase and distribution of naloxone to first responders.
•    The Strategic Prevention Framework Partnerships for Prescription Drugs Grants provide up to $9 million to 21 states and four tribes to strengthen drug abuse prevention efforts. The program is designed to raise awareness about the dangers of sharing medications and work with pharmaceutical and medical communities on the risks of overprescribing. The program also seeks to raise community awareness and bring prescription drug abuse prevention activities and education to schools, communities, parents, prescribers, and their patients.
•    The Enhanced State Surveillance of Opioid-Involved Morbidity and Mortality program is awarding $4.27 million in funds to 12 states to better track fatal and nonfatal opioid-involved overdoses. States will use the funding to:
–    Increase the timeliness of reporting nonfatal and fatal opioid overdose and associated risk factors
–    Disseminate surveillance findings to key stakeholders working to prevent opioid-involved overdoses
–    Share data with CDC to support improved multi-state surveillance of and response to opioid-involved overdoses