The 44 governors who signed the compact commit to taking steps to reduce improper opioid prescribing, change the nation’s understanding of addiction and ensure that addicts have access to treatment.
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Roughly 78 Americans die from opioid overdoses every day, a death rate that has almost quadrupled since 1999.
“Bringing governors together around core strategies to end the opioid epidemic adds momentum behind state efforts and sends a clear signal to opioid prescribers and others whose leadership is critical to saving lives”, Baker said in a statement.
The Republican governor, who is chair of the NGA’s Health and Human Services Committee, signed a compromise bill into law in March that seeks to tackle the state’s growing opioid crisis. Addictions to those drugs then have many users turn to heroin, which is cheaper.
Governor Hogan will attend the National Governors Association annual summer meeting, which will begin tomorrow in Des Moines, Iowa.
The compact calls on governors to update prescribing guidelines to possibly include opioid limits for some patients, require medical personnel to receive continuing education on pain management, and improve monitoring of opioid prescribers.
“Far too many families and communities have experienced the devastation caused by heroin and opioid abuse”, said Governor Hogan.
Forty-four state governors have agreed to adopt a common set of strategies to fight opioid addiction, signing a compact modeled after policies that have already been implemented in MA.
In Pennsylvania, preventing or cutting down opioid abuse has been a priority for Wolf over the past year, with the Democratic governor traveling around the state for roundtable talks with legislators, drug prevention experts and others.
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This is the first time in at least a decade, Baker’s office said in an email, that governors “have developed a compact through NGA to spur coordinated action on an urgent national issue”. “Massachusetts is proud to bring our plans to the table for other states as we work collaboratively to find meaningful solutions to this public health crisis”. On Friday, they will host a session on opioid abuse with U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell and representatives from the Drug Enforcement Agency and National Academy of Medicine, as well as state experts.
