In the absence of an opioid specific appropriation, NCIPC proactively dedicated resources through our injury prevention activity line – which we use for cross cutting and emerging topics. Boost for State Prevention (Prevention Boost) was an initiative where CDC’s Injury Center equipped five of the hardest hit states – Kentucky, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, and West Virginia  with resources and scientific assistance to prevent prescription drug overdoses. This work focused in three key areas: (1) maximizing the use of PDMPs; (2) improving public insurance mechanisms to protect patients; and (3) evaluating policies to identify prevention that works.

The omnibus awarded NCIPC $20M to combat the opioid crisis. Through a competitive application process, we selected 16 states to receive funds through the Prevention for States program. Participating states began executing and evaluating prevention strategies to improve safe prescribing practices and prevent prescription drug overuse, misuse, abuse, and overdose.

Congress appropriated $70M to CDC for opioid overdose prevention. CDC’s full Overdose Prevention in States effort supported 44 states and Washington DC. The Prevention for States program added an additional 13 states, growing to 29 states total. Including supplemental funding, states received $42.2M in 2016 through the Prevention for States program. Under the Overdose Prevention in States umbrella, CDC launched the Data-Driven Prevention Initiative (DDPI), supporting 13 states and D.C. with a total of $6M. DDPI was meant to support states with less capacity and/or a lower burden to help them build their capabilities to engage in a more robust response.

These programs equipped states with the tools to respond to the opioid overdose crisis. Activities included: enhancing Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMP) and leveraging them as public health tools, improving health system and insurer practices for safer opioid prescribing, and evaluating policies that may impact opioid crisis (e.g. naloxone distribution, Good Samaritan laws, etc.) The main difference between the programs was level of capacity of the states and funding.

Congress also appropriated $5.6Mpdf icon to CDC  to start a surveillance program for illicit opioids. With funding for surveillance, CDC launched Enhanced State Opioid Overdose Surveillance (ESOOS). It funded 12 states to continue to address the rising rate of overdoses attributable to opioids, including a specific focus on heroin and synthetic opioids such as illicitly manufactured fentanyl.

CDC received $111.8M for combatting the opioid overdose crisis, and $13.5M for its illicit opioid surveillance program. The surveillance program grew to 32 states and D.C. and CDC was able to give supplemental funding to Prevention states.

CDC gave over $88 million dollars to states to increase their prevention activities and enhance their surveillance capabilities.

With the additional supplement, CDC invested nearly $245 million in states – almost tripling their support.

CDC launched a Notice of Funding Opportunity, Overdose Data to Action (OD2A), which builds on previous surveillance and prevention programs to foster an interdisciplinary, comprehensive, and cohesive public health approach to the complex and changing nature of the overdose crisis. One of these efforts required funded recipients to collect surveillance information on all drug overdose deaths. In addition, all funded recipients collected nonfatal overdose data on all suspected drug, opioid, heroin, and stimulant overdoses from 75% of a state’s emergency departments. CDC collected data on more substances and from more facilities, to rapidly disseminate the data to inform prevention and response efforts. OD2A supports states, territories, cities, and counties to obtain higher-quality, more comprehensive, and timelier data on overdose morbidity and mortality.