U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, stated Tuesday he has helped safe $2 million in federal funding for Austin Public Well being to battle opioid overdoses, with a concentrate on stopping deaths from fentanyl.
It is the primary long-term federal funding for opioid abuse regionally, Doggett stated.
“It is clear from the deaths we have seen from highschool college students in neighboring counties, it is a downside that afflicts a broad a part of our group,” Doggett stated. “We’re mainly attempting to carry all palms on deck — metropolis, county, federal — to work collectively to seek out some solutions.”
Doggett stated he pursued the $2 million as a result of it was Austin Public Well being’s prime precedence. The cash is anticipated to final two years.
“We’re in a public well being disaster, … town of Austin is dedicated to making sure that our residents have the knowledge they should defend themselves from this public well being risk,” Austin Mayor Kirk Watson stated. “This infusion of federal cash will allow us to speak with our group in regards to the danger of opioids and overdoses.”
How the cash will likely be spent
Generally, the funding will likely be used for:
- Overdose prevention training.
- Peer restoration coaches for street-level intervention. These are folks with lived habit expertise.
- Extra opioid reversal medicine, together with Narcan and its generic model, naloxone.
- Schooling on tips on how to use naloxone and on indicators of opioid use.
- An Austin Public Well being well being fairness hotline folks can name for data.
- Schooling amongst well being care suppliers on avoiding prescription dependence.
“The thought is to get extra group engagement and inform folks to assist us deal with this essential problem,” Doggett stated.
Travis County says it has spent $500,000 towards efforts to stop opioid overdoses. Austin Public Well being has spent about $2 million on all overdose prevention efforts.
The $2 million in federal cash has not but arrived in Austin.
Austin Public Well being will likely be making a plan on tips on how to use the cash and can elicit buy-in from the organizations it at the moment works with locally. A lot of these applications will see a rise in funding.
“We hope we’ll have the option leverage the great work of this funding and the opposite good work that is happening in group to open us as much as different grant alternatives,” Austin Public Well being Director Adrienne Sturrup stated.
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Seeing the rising disaster
Fentanyl is an artificial opioid that’s 50 to 100 instances stronger than morphine. Usually it’s laced in different medicine, making an individual unaware that what they’re taking has fentanyl in it.
Within the first six months of 2022, Travis County noticed 199 unintended overdose deaths, together with 118 from fentanyl overdoses. Overdose is the No. 1 reason for unintended deaths within the county. The variety of unintended overdose deaths within the first six months of 2022 was the identical for all of 2021, however in 2021, fentanyl solely accounted for 36% of these deaths; now that determine is at 59%.
“These are preventable deaths,” Travis County Choose Andy Brown stated. “These are individuals who reside right here in Travis County. It is our brothers, our moms, our greatest pals, our co-workers, our neighbors who’re dying.”
Brown stated the variety of girls dying from fentanyl overdoses is up 150% in Travis County, the variety of Black residents killed by is fentanyl up practically 180%, and the variety of Hispanic residents dying from it’s up 155%.
The overdoses are being seen throughout the county, not simply in a single space, stated Austin-Travis County Well being Authority Dr. Desmar Walkes.
“We want desperately to handle this problem as a complete group,” Walkes stated. “One capsule can kill, it doesn’t matter what your age or gender. It is crucial that you just solely take capsules as prescribed by a health care provider, … the primary capsule you are taking from a stranger may be the one which kills you.”
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What’s the anticipated affect of the brand new funding?
The primary outcome that folks will see is extra training locally, Sturrup stated. Austin Public Well being will likely be educating its group well being employees on opioid habit. Opioid use will grow to be a part of the dialog after they go into the group to speak about diabetes or COVID-19 or different well being points.
“We would like therapy to be an accessible, available choice to anybody who finds themselves on this state of affairs,” Sturrup stated.
The Narcan therapy reverses the results by nasal spray or injection.
“It is like having a fireplace extinguisher in your home that you just by no means need or count on to make use of, but it surely’s life-saving to have it there,” Brown stated.
Texas Hurt Discount Alliance, which has had partnerships with the county, has been capable of provide among the Narcan accessible regionally. Cate Graziani, co-director of Texas Hurt Discount Alliance, estimated that in Austin, the alliance has been capable of save between 500 to 700 lives a 12 months by making Narcan accessible.
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Narcan is now accessible at two free merchandising machines and at bars and public libraries.
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Searching for extra from state authorities
Brown stated he wish to see the state authorities take extra of a task within the effort to increase therapy and training. There are thousands and thousands of {dollars} that could possibly be utilized in funding naloxone for cities, counties and group organizations, he stated. Many of the $500,000 the county has allotted for fentanyl overdose prevention has been for getting naloxone, Brown stated.
“You’ve got seen that that is metropolis, county and federal,” Doggett stated. “There may be not anybody from the state right here. We would like that state partnership.”
The state usually passes by means of federal funds to completely different entities. Final 12 months, the state ran out of federally funded naloxone to distribute, Doggett stated.
On the state degree, a number of payments have been launched to take away the legal penalties of possessing fentanyl testing strips to detect the presence of fentanyl in a capsule, in addition to a Good Samaritan regulation for folks to assist somebody going by means of an overdose with out being charged for having drug paraphernalia.
“A drug habit or leisure drug makes use of shouldn’t be a dying sentence,” Brown stated. “This funding will assist us save lives.”
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