Michael R. Bloomberg announced a $150 million investment to expand overdose prevention programs in New Jersey, as well as five other states hard-hit by the opioid crisis.
The investment brings the organization’s total commitment to addressing the opioid crisis to $335 million since 2018. Overdoses remain the leading cause of death for American adults under age 45, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“The overdose epidemic continues to be one of the hardest public health crises our nation faces,” Bloomberg said during the ninth annual Bloomberg American Health Summit in Baltimore. “Now is the time to accelerate this hard-fought progress, expand access to treatment, and save more lives.”
The funding will ensure all incarcerated individuals and hospital emergency room patients in New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Kentucky, Washington and Wisconsin have access to opioid use disorder treatment. Washington represents a new addition to the Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Overdose Prevention Initiative, while the other five states will see strengthened programs.
The program targets high-risk settings like prisons and emergency <a href="https://bitcomme.com/the-best-stock-picker-in-recent-years-the-marketing-department-2/” title=”The Best Stock-Picker in Recent Years? The Marketing Department”>departments to connect patients with medication treatment immediately. Research shows formerly incarcerated individuals are 129 times more likely to die of an overdose in the two weeks following their release than the general public, according to research cited by the organization.
Results from 2024 show overdose deaths in the initiative’s focus states declined nearly 15% more than the national average.
The initiative has already helped ensure all prisons in New Jersey now provide medications for treating opioid use disorder, which includes buprenorphine. It has also helped more than 75% of New Jersey emergency departments provide these medications, up from an average of 28%.
Bloomberg Philanthropies previously achieved measurable results in Pennsylvania and Michigan, where the initiative began in 2018. All 24 state prisons in Pennsylvania now provide buprenorphine for opioid use disorder. In Michigan, the program helped launch an online portal allowing community organizations to distribute naloxone, a medication used to reverse an overdose, without individual prescriptions.
“Getting naloxone into the hands of people who can save a life is key to the state’s strategy,” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said. “Since the state launched its online portal for community organizations to order this life-saving medication, we have prevented thousands of families from having to deal with the tragedy of an overdose death.”
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said overdose deaths have declined in his state and more families have hope because of the investment.
“We will build on this meaningful progress and keep doing this work until every Pennsylvanian has access to the care and support they deserve,” Shapiro said.
The initiative also helps states use evidence-based guidelines to spend opioid settlement funds paid by drug manufacturers and distributors. More than half of U.S. states now use these guidelines for treatment and prevention programs.
