ASTHO Welcomes President Biden's Call to Beat the Opioid and Overdose Epidemic

ARLINGTON, Va., Feb. 8, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) President and Chief Medical Officer of the Alaska Department of Health Anne Zink, MD, issued the following statement commending President Biden's State of the Union pledge to beat the opioid and overdose epidemic by accelerating public health efforts to save lives:

"State and territorial public health leaders welcome President Biden's efforts to continue to address the opioid and overdose epidemic that has sadly taken far too many American lives. We applaud the Administration's work to expand access to evidence-based prevention, harm reduction, and equitable access to treatment and recovery programs. ASTHO also supports law enforcement efforts to disrupt synthetic drug production and trafficking to reduce the supply of illicit fentanyl that is driving the increase in drug overdose rates in the U.S.

ASTHO and our members stand ready to work with the Administration and Congress in a bipartisan way to address the opioid and overdose epidemic head on. We must work together for prevention education on the risk of fentanyl, increase access to life saving naloxone, and support programs and individuals working to prevent opioid and substance use disorder to fulfill our promise to accelerate public health efforts and save lives."

ASTHO is the national nonprofit organization representing the public health agencies of the United States, the U.S. territories and freely associated states, and the District of Columbia, as well as the more than 100,000 public health professionals these agencies employ. ASTHO members, the chief health officials of these jurisdictions, are dedicated to formulating and influencing sound public health policy and to ensuring excellence in public health practice.

SOURCE Association of State and Territorial Health Officials