WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) announced a $1,331,985 Prescription Drug Overdose Prevention Grant for the West Virginia State Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) to prevent prescription drug overdoses in West Virginia. The aim of the program is to support states as they enact and evaluate prevention strategies to end prescription drug abuse and overdoses.
“With the number of overdose deaths skyrocketing in West Virginia, we must continue doing everything possible to prevent prescriptions from ending up in the wrong hands. I have introduced several pieces of legislation aimed at combatting this issue, and I am pleased that this funding, which I voted to appropriate in the spending bill that passed the Senate last December, will strengthen our efforts to create a drug-free West Virginia,” said Senator Capito, who helped secure this funding as a member of the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee.
“Prescription drug abuse is devastating communities all over our state and nation, and it is unacceptable for us to just turn a blind eye to it,” Senator Manchin said. “As West Virginians, we have a responsibility – especially to our children – to curb prescription drug abuse, and I applaud those on the frontlines who are working to end the epidemic we are facing. This funding will help to prevent prescription drug overdoses by maximizing efforts to expand prescription drug monitoring programs, providing technical assistance to communities that are most likely to experience overdoses, and evaluating the existing policies to better understand what is working to prevent overdoses. As your Senator, I am determined to do everything I can to help create drug-free and safe communities so all West Virginians can live up to their full potential.”
The funding was awarded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.
###