Statement from Dr. Rahul Gupta on Today’s CDC Overdose Death Data
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Dr. Rahul Gupta, Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), issued the following statement regarding the CDC’s release of provisional drug overdose death data, which show 107,375 predicted overdose deaths in the 12-month period ending in January 2022. By comparison, last month, CDC released provisional overdose fatality data for the 12-month period ending in December 2021 of 107,622.
In addition to the decrease in the number of predicted deaths, the rate of increase has also continued to slow in recent months. Whereas the rate of increase for the 12-month period ending in December 2021 was 14.9% when compared to the 12 months ending in December 2020, the rate of increase now stands at 12.5%.
“For far too many years, the overdose epidemic has been destroying American lives and livelihoods. The data released by the CDC today show the beginnings of hope after several years of rapid increases in overdose deaths. We are focused on fully implementing the President’s Unity Agenda to save lives and beat the overdose epidemic.”
In April, President Biden sent his Administration’s inaugural National Drug Control Strategy to Congress, which delivers on the call to action in President Biden’s Unity Agenda through a whole-of-government approach to beat the overdose epidemic. It proposes targeted actions to expand access to evidence-based prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery services while reducing the supply of drugs like fentanyl.
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