WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has renewed the public health emergency declaration addressing the nation's opioid crisis.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced that the public health emergency declaration has been extended to allow sustained federal coordination efforts and preserve key flexibility that enable HHS to continue leveraging expanded authorities to conduct certain activities in response to the opioid overdose crisis.
'Although overdose deaths are starting to decline, opioid-involved overdoses remain the leading cause of drug-related fatalities,' Kennedy said. 'This Administration is going to treat this urgent crisis in American health as the national security emergency that it is. Renewing the Opioid Public Health Emergency Declaration affirms the Administration's commitment to addressing the opioid overdose crisis and is one of many critical steps we will take to Make America Healthy Again.'
The public health emergency, first declared in 2017, was set to expire on March 21, 2025. Tuesday's renewal extends the emergency for 90 days.
The declaration of a public health emergency provides the HHS Secretary with certain authorities necessary to respond to the emergency. The Department has relied on this declaration to facilitate voluntary information collections, expedite demonstration projects related to substance use disorder treatment, and expedite support for research on opioid use disorder treatments. These activities facilitate multi-level coordination across the public and private sector alike, HHS said in a press release.
While provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates a 25.5 percent decrease in overdose deaths in the 12 months ending October 2024 compared with the same period in 2023, approximately 150 Americans die every day from overdose involving illegal, synthetic opioids such as illegally made fentanyl. Overdose remains the leading cause of death among Americans aged 18-44.
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