Secretary Azar, Surgeon General Adams Praise Private Sector Support for Naloxone Advisory

Following the early April release of the Surgeon General’s Advisory on Naloxone and Opioid Overdose, which recommended that opioid treatment providers prescribe or dispense naloxone to patients with elevated risk of overdose, two naloxone manufacturers (Adapt Pharma and kaleo, Inc.) announced this week that they will be partnering with the National Council on Behavioral Health to distribute 30,000 doses of donated naloxone to National Council members.

Upon the announcement, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar released the following statement:

“Thousands of Americans are alive today thanks to the use of naloxone, and this week’s generous donation will help thousands more as they work to enter recovery safely from opioid addiction. HHS has made the targeted availability and distribution of naloxone one of the five pillars of its strategy for taking on this epidemic, and we are proud to see private-sector partnerships supporting those efforts.”

Surgeon General Jerome Adams released the following statement:

“Lives are saved every day by community members using naloxone. People with opioid use disorder are at highest risk for overdose within 30 days of completing treatment, particularly if they are not receiving medication to support their recovery. My office’s recent advisory emphasizes the importance of giving naloxone to those leaving treatment for opioid use disorder, and this week’s announcement is an important step in getting naloxone to the people who need it most, when they need it most. It is partnerships like these—between the private sector, treatment providers, and so many more sectors of society—that will help us defeat this epidemic.”

Those currently completing treatment in public or non-profit treatment programs receiving the donations will receive two take-home doses of naloxone for free.

Under the Trump Administration, HHS has advanced the overdose-reversing drugs element of its five-point strategy by:

Distributing $44.7 million in grants through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to local communities to help equip first responders with naloxone;
Providing $1 billion thus far to help states expand prevention, treatment, and recovery services, including through the supply of naloxone;
Working with Congress to secure another $1 billion in 2018 funding to support states’ work on similar efforts;
Issuing the first Surgeon General’s Advisory in 13 years, encouraging Americans to carry naloxone; and
Announcing earlier this month through SAMHSA a new funding opportunity for treatment centers to provide naloxone through Improving Access to Overdose Treatment grants, totaling up to $4.7 million over the next five years.

To read the Surgeon General’s Advisory, please visit: https://www.surgeongeneral.gov/priorities/opioid-overdose-prevention/naloxone-advisory.html.