The Broome County Health Department will receive $4.5 million from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to help address the overdose epidemic.
Health officials say the funding will go towards more thorough data collection, as well as harm reduction and overdose prevention efforts.
Broome County was one of 40 health departments across the country to receive the funding. It was the only health department in New York state to get the grant outside of New York City.
Marissa Knapp, overdose prevention coordinator at the Broome Overdose Action Collaborative, said the funds will help the health department get new data and important information out to the community.
“To have accurate data and work on our data strategies, and then disseminate that data to the population of persons who uses drugs, but also treatment providers, families,” Knapp said.
In 2022, 80 people died of a suspected overdose in the county, the highest number yet. But health officials say fatal overdoses are now trending lower than this time last year.
Knapp said distributing naloxone and training the larger community to recognize and prevent overdoses is crucial.
“Just like someone is trained in CPR, or how to use an AED [automated external defibrillator], we want the public to have the education and knowledge the same way to be able to save a life and be trained in Narcan,” Knapp said.
The CDC has awarded a total of $279 million to states and health departments across the country to focus on overdose prevention.