Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The money — of which $1.6 million is earmarked for the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) for data and the rest for Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) outreach — is from the CDC’s Overdose Data to Action in States (OD2A) program.
DSHS will use its money to focus on expanding and modernizing public health information on “fatal and non-fatal drug poisonings” and “more effectively analyze data from multiple sources,” according to a news release.
“This funding will allow us to link multiple types of data together and provide a more complete picture of drug poisonings in Texas,” said DSHS Commissioner Jennifer Shuford in the release. “The ultimate goal is to share that information with state leaders, experts and other partners so solutions can be developed and put in place more quickly.”
The state grant program is designed to assist in expanding surveillance efforts with data, according to the CDC. These are:
- Collecting data about various community characteristics
- Using data to inform prevention strategies
- Using data to determine equitable interventions
- Using data to determine what demographics are most vulnerable
Tracking overdoses and resulting deaths has become a common practice across the U.S., and Texas recently enacted a law for local health or law enforcement agencies to participate in an overdose mapping program, such as the Overdose Mapping Application Program (ODMAP). This is a nationwide map in which several Texas municipalities participate.
Texas launched the “One Pill Kills” campaign last year to help combat fentanyl use and deaths. It includes outreach collateral that is freely available online.
HHSC also hosts a website with multiple resources.
