Communities to raise awareness and commemorate those who have been lost to drug overdose

STATE COLLEGE, PENNSYLVANIA, UNITED STATES, August 16, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ -- The Commonwealth Prevention Alliance (CPA), a private non-profit whose mission is to reimagine prevention, advocate for equity and critical resources, and share best and promising practices, is proud to announce its support of International Overdose Awareness Day (IOAD), on August 31, 2023. IOAD seeks to create better understanding of overdose, reduce the stigma of drug-related deaths, and create change that reduces the harms associated with drug use.

“International Overdose Awareness Day is an opportunity for our communities to remember loved ones lost to overdose,” said Jeff Hanley, CPA Executive Director. “The overdose epidemic is one of the world's most urgent public health crises and we stand together to raise awareness and promote action. To combat overdose deaths, we must emphasize community prevention efforts, increase funding, and implement supportive policies. By standing united in raising awareness and advocating for evidence-based prevention strategies and policies, we can work towards ending this preventable tragedy in our communities.”

Local communities in Pennsylvania will come together on IOAD to remember those who have died or suffered injury due to drug overdose without stigma and shame. Global overdose rates have skyrocketed in the last 25 years. In 2020, an estimated 284 million people worldwide had used a drug in the past 12 months, a 26 per cent increase from 2010. The situation is especially severe in the US. In 2021, provisional data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated there were 107,622 drug overdose deaths, an increase of 15 percent from 2020.

CPA is asking prevention professionals and local PA communities to participate in International Overdose Awareness Day by raising awareness, hosting an event or calling upon decision-makers or local officials to fund effective prevention programs and strategies and to support policies that reduce and prevent overdoses.

The effort was initiated in 2001 by Sally J Finn at The Salvation Army in St Kilda, Melbourne, and since 2012, International Overdose Awareness Day has been coordinated by the not-for-profit Australian public health organization Penington Institute.

To learn more, please visit https://pastop.org/prevention-professionals/ioad/.

About Commonwealth Prevention Alliance
CPA is a member-driven, grassroots organization whose mission is to reimagine prevention, advocate for equity and critical resources, and share best and promising practices. We are a non-profit, 501(c)3 organization. Since 1976, CPA has kept the needs and concerns of the prevention professional and the field of substance misuse prevention as its key focus, and today it continues to be the foremost voice for prevention in Pennsylvania.

Darice Nagy
Boom Creative
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