Increased Funding for Opioid Crisis, Research Paper Example

More than 115 individuals in the U.S. die every day due to opioids’ overdose (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2018). The addiction to or misuse of opioids including synthetic opioids like the fentanyl, heroin, and a wide range of prescription pain relievers is a severe national crisis that has detrimental impacts on economic and social welfare, as well as public health. The CDC has estimated that opioid misuse costs the federal government about USD 78.5 billion per annum, and this includes the costs associated with the criminal justice involvement, addiction treatment, lost productivity, and healthcare. In the 1990s, different pharmaceutical firms were at the forefront of reassuring the health department that patients would not abuse the various prescription opioids (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2018). Due to this, healthcare facilities began prescribing the opioid pain relievers at a rapid rate. Such a situation resulted in the widespread abuse of the opioid drugs before it became apparent that opioid pain relievers could be abused and become highly addictive (Makary, Overton, & Wang, 2017). Consequently, there has been a significant increase in opioids’ overdose and addiction rates. For instance, in 2015, it was reported that at least 33,000 Americans dies due to opioid abuse and overdose. In the same year, about two million Americans suffered from a variety of disorders that were correction with the prescription opioid relievers and heroin use (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2018). The issue of opioid abuse and addiction has become a public health crisis characterized by severe outcomes including increased overdoses, opioid misuse, and rising cases of neonatal abstinence syndrome that occurs due to an opioid overdose during the pregnancy period.

The federal support is necessary to ensure the availability of naloxone to the law enforcement agencies and the first responders. Due to the detrimental impacts of the opioid epidemic, there is the need for the federal government to increase the funding of the public health programs aimed at managing and addressing the epidemic. As the opioid crisis continues to ravage different societies in the U.S., the federal government’s response has not customarily matched the threat’s reality (Gong & Liu, 2018). The increased funding is necessary as it will enable the health department to provide educational programs for healthcare providers. Such educational programs would enable health practitioners to understand the opioid addiction disease and how to screen and treat it. Besides, the extra funding would essential in ensuring that various Americans have access to opioid abuse treatment and behavior health treatment (Raman, 2018). Apart from the increased funding, there is the need for a grant system that can help in combating the opioid crisis and drug addiction.

For the 2019 fiscal year, Trump administration has proposed USD 30 billion in new federal spending address the issue of the opioid epidemic for the next five years. However, such a budget allocation would not be sufficient to make any substantial progress on an epidemic that killed at least 64,000 in the year 2016. As the executive director of Maryland Social Welfare Organization, we require increased funding for the opioid crisis to enable us to improve access to opioid addiction treatment in underserved and rural areas. Additionally, we need the extra funding to allow us to provide different programs to children whose parents misuse opioids and other drugs and substances (Whitaker, 2018). The high number of Americans who die each year due to opioid overdoses and misuse needs to be reduced. An effective program that can help in reducing such numbers will require massive funding from the federal government. The extra funds will be channeled to treatment programs, notably the purchase of opioid addiction medications like the buprenorphine and methadone. The funds will be vital in helping different public health programs to address the issue of the lack of access and availability of opioid addiction treatment in the U.S. Few health facilities in the country provide opioid addiction medications which are the gold treatment standard (Schifrin, 2018). Therefore, we urge the Congress to make increased federal funding and grants for the opioid epidemic the main priority in the 2019 fiscal year.

References

Gong, C.Z. & Liu, W. (2018). Acupuncture and the opioid epidemic in America. Chin Journal of Integrated Medicine, 24(5): 323-327

Makary, M.A., Overton, H.N., & Wang, P. (2017). Overprescribing is major contributor to opioid crisis. BMJ, 4792

National Institute on Drug Abuse (2018). Opioid overdose crisis. National Institute on Drug Abuse, https://www.drugabuse.gov/drugs-abuse/opioids/opioid-overdose-crisis

Raman, S. (2018). Governors press for more funds to fight opioid addiction. The Roll Call, https://www.rollcall.com/news/policy/governors-press-funds-fight-opioid-addiction

Schifrin, N. (2018). To fight opioid crisis, we need to increase funding for treatment, says N.C. Governor. PBS News Hour, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/fight-opioid-crisis-need-increase-funding-treatment-says-n-c-governor

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2018). What is the U.S. opioid epidemic? U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, https://www.hhs.gov/opioids/about-the-epidemic/

Whitaker, B. (2018). Opioid epidemic leaving grandparents to raise grandchildren. CBS News, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/opioid-epidemic-leaving-grandparents-to-raise-grandchildren/