COLUMBUS – Franklin County will receive nearly $4 million, out of the $13.6 million headed to the Buckeye State from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The $3.9 million three-year Overdose Data to Action Grant awarded to Franklin County Public Health will pay for gathering more comprehensive, and timelier data on overdoses with the goal of improving responses to overdoses and preventing fatalities.
“Together we will have the ability to create an enhanced infrastructure to support data integration, further develop strategies to establish opioid prevention and surveillance activities, and ultimately reduce the number of opioid-related fatalities in our community,” Franklin County Health Commissioner Joe Mazzola said.
Franklin County Coroner Dr. Anahi Ortiz reported earlier this year that 522 people died from drug overdoses in 2018.
The CDC also awarded $5.3 million to Hamilton County Public Health and $4.4 million the Cuyahoga County Board of Health.
“With the spike in deadly synthetic opioid addiction and overdoses, we need the data this grant will provide to address these issues in a comprehensive way,” Republican U.S. Sen Rob Portman said. “Over the past few years, I’ve been pleased that Congress has recognized the addiction crisis gripping our country and passed legislation to support the efforts of states and local communities to combat the drug epidemic. But our work is far from over.”
Franklin County Public Health is distributing $2.3 million to partner organizations taking part in the Columbus and Franklin County Addiction Plan adopted in 2017, including the Columbus Divisions of Police and Fire; Columbus, Franklin County Children Services, OhioHealth, Ohio University and the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center to expand the study of data on opioid use disorder and use the information to expand and improve prevention efforts for at-risk populations
FCPH will also spend $479,000 in the first year of the grant to develop a communications and marketing campaign to address the stigma surrounding opioid use disorders.