State hosts opioid overdose prevention summit in May

RALEIGH, N.C. (WITN) - North Carolina leaders, including Governor Roy Cooper and Health and Human Services Secretary Mandy K. Cohen, are hosting a virtual summit to address opioid misuse and overdoses.

The 2021 Opioid Misuse and Overdose Prevention Summit is on May 4-6, 2021. Hundreds of national, state and local community leaders are coming together to discuss North Carolina’s communities’ integral role in prevention and response efforts across the state.

Health leaders say multiple substances have been increasingly identified among people who fatally overdosed in North Carolina.

This year’s summit is about more than just opioids – it is about bolstering equity, centering lived experiences, and addressing poly-drug use.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Opioid Use Disorder is a serious public health issue resulting in drug overdose deaths. It has become the leading cause of injury death in the United States.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports the United States continues to be in the midst of a prescription drug overdose epidemic. In 2019, nearly five North Carolinians died each day from an unintentional opioid overdose.