MAINE, USA — Editor's note: The video above originally aired on Aug. 16, 2023.
Maine will receive $1.4 million to help its rural communities respond to opioid overdose risks, officials say.
The award will help support "key strategies to respond to the overdose risk from fentanyl and other opioids," the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration said in a news release.
More than 100,000 people die from overdose each year across the U.S., officials said. People who live in rural communities that experience opioid use disorder can face challenges in accessing treatment and recovery services.
“Far too many rural families have faced the devastation of overdose, and these deaths are felt deeply across rural communities — where often everyone knows someone lost too soon,” HRSA Administrator Carole Johnson said in the release.
Johnson added, “At the Health Resources and Services Administration, we know that funding based on population size or other broad-based rubrics can miss the vital treatment and response needs of rural communities. That’s why the investments we are announcing today are targeted to rural communities and tailored to the unique challenges of helping rural health care leaders expand access to treatment and build recovery pathways to prevent overdose.”
Of the $1.4 million, $900,000 will support three awards aimed at helping rural communities respond to immediate needs, including the distribution of life-saving opioid overdose reversal medications, officials said.
And $500,000 of that money will support an award to "develop and implement interventions in rural communities to prevent, treat and care for opioid exposed infants by focusing on systems of care, family supports, and social determinants of health," the release stated.
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