HHS Secretary Becerra Unveils New Overdose Prevention Strategy

This week, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra unveiled the new HHS Overdose Prevention Strategy, designed to increase access to the full range of care and services for individuals who use substances that cause overdose and their families. The new strategy focuses on multiple substances involved in overdose and the diverse treatment approaches for substance use disorder.

The new strategy prioritizes four key target areas – primary prevention, harm reduction, evidence-based treatment, and recovery support – and aims to maximize health equity for underserved populations using the best available data and evidence to inform policy and actions, integrate substance use disorder services into other types of health and social services, and reduce stigma.

Further, the strategy recognizes that the full continuum of integrated care and services are needed to help prevent substance use, expand quality treatment, and sustain recovery from substance use disorders. The strategy also provides coordinated, federal support for harm reduction and recovery support.

Additional information on the HHS Overdose Prevention Strategy is available here.