The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced this week that $1.3 million in federal aid would go to battling fentanyl overdoses in rural areas of Arkansas.
“Far too many rural families have faced the devastation of overdose, and these deaths are felt deeply across rural communities — where often everyone knows someone lost too soon,” HRSA Administrator Carole Johnson said. Geographically isolated areas are especially risky when it comes to overdoses from fentanyl and other opioids, and that’s for a number of reasons, including transportation barriers and limited access to recovery services.
“We know that funding based on population size or other broad-based rubrics can miss the vital treatment and response needs of rural communities,” Johnson said. “That’s why the investments we are announcing today are targeted to rural communities and tailored to the unique challenges of helping rural health care leaders expand access to treatment and build recovery pathways to prevent overdose.”
In addition to today’s federal award, Arkansas will collect over $250 million over the next dozen years in settlement money won in litigation against the pharmaceutical companies, drug store chains and other businesses that profited from the nation’s opioid epidemic. Here’s more on how the state is spending that money.
The post $1.3 million in federal funding awarded to fight opioid overdoses in rural Arkansas appeared first on Arkansas Times.