Utah Priority Topic Investments
Click on any of the tabs below to learn more about each topic.
Utah Overdose Investment Snapshot
Combatting the current overdose crisis is a priority for the agency. This page provides an overview of the FY21 CDC Injury Center (NCIPC) overdose investments for the state of Utah.
There were 91,799 drug overdose deaths in the United States in 2020 (28.3 deaths per 100,000 standard population), a stark 30% increase from 2019. Approximately 75% of drug overdose deaths in 2020 involved an opioid, with synthetic opioids (e.g., illicitly manufactured fentanyls) accounting for more than 80% of all opioid-involved deaths. Drug overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids increased by 55% and deaths involving psychostimulants (e.g., methamphetamine) increased by 47% from 2019 to 2020. Drug overdose deaths involving cocaine also increased by 22%.
In 2020 in Utah there were:
622
overdose deaths
20.5
overdose deaths per 100,000 people (age-adjusted)
Source: NVSS – Drug Overdose Deaths
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Overdose Data to Action (OD2A)
Public Health and Public Safety
*average award amount |
Examples of How Utah Is Working to Prevent Overdose
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Overdose dashboards
Utah updates its opioid dashboards bi-weekly. The external dashboard provides information for the public and partners, while the internal dashboard allows local health departments to identify specific data in a timely manner and improve the response time for possible overdose outbreaks. |
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Harm reduction coalition
Utah created the Southeast Disease Prevention Coalition, a harm reduction program that leverages partners to provide a variety of services, including referrals to recovery programs, sign-ups for medications for opioid use disorder, free HIV and Hepatitis C virus testing, flu shots, and food. |
CDC Overdose Prevention Strategies
CDC’s Injury Center plays a critical role in addressing the drug overdose epidemic by driving progress in the five strategic priorities that guide CDC’s response framework for preventing overdoses.
Additional Resources
Utah Suicide Prevention Investment Snapshot
Preventing suicide is a priority for the agency. This page provides an overview of the FY21 CDC Injury Center (NCIPC) suicide prevention investments for the state of Utah.
Suicide is a leading cause of death in the United States. It was responsible for almost 46,000 deaths in 2020, which is about one death every 11 minutes. The number of people who think about or attempt suicide is even higher. In 2020, 12.2 million American adults seriously thought about suicide, 3.2 million planned a suicide attempt, and 1.2 million attempted suicide.
In 2020 in Utah there were:
651
suicide deaths
20.8
suicide deaths per 100,000 people (age-adjusted)
Source: Suicide Rates by State (cdc.gov)
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Emergency Department Surveillance of Nonfatal Suicide-Related Outcomes (ED-SNSRO)
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Examples of How Utah Is Working to Prevent Suicide
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Responding to media
Utah’s ED-SNSRO team used near real-time surveillance data to answer media and partner requests on how COVID-19 has impacted suicide-related outcomes. Utah released a state-based report on social and behavioral health, which included suicide-related indicators, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Utah compared both data from 2019 to 2020 and 2020 data before and after Utah implemented COVID-19 restrictions. |
CDC Suicide Prevention Strategies
Suicide is preventable and there is no single cause, so prevention requires addressing the multiple factors linked to suicide at the individual, relationship, community, and societal levels. As such, CDC is leading a comprehensive approach to suicide prevention. Such an approach aims to prevent people from becoming suicidal in the first place and support people at increased risk. CDC uses data to track and monitor suicide trends, research possible risks and what works to prevent them, and help communities put proven suicide prevention strategies into place.
CDC’s Suicide Prevention Resource for Action outlines seven strategies that are based on the best available evidence to help communities and states focus on prevention activities with the greatest potential to prevent suicide.
Strengthen economic supports
Create protective environments
Improve access and delivery of suicide care
Promote healthy connections
Teach coping and problem-solving skills
Identify and support people at risk
Lessen harms and prevent future risk
Near Real-Time SurveillanceImproving surveillance – collecting better and more timely data is also an important strategy to better understand, monitor, and prevent suicide and suicidal behavior. Expanding surveillance of nonfatal suicide-related outcomes (e.g., suicide attempts, suicide ideation) can help improve timeliness of data, identify spikes, and inform prevention and response.