New Jersey and National Experts Focus on Public Health Barriers and Solutions to Opioid Crisis

Millburn, NJ, July 26, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — A panel of public health experts will outline the current developments in public health and their impact on the opioid epidemic in the next webinar of the Knock Out Opioid Abuse Day Learning Series, organized by the Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey (PDFNJ), the Office of the New Jersey Coordinator for Addiction Responses and Enforcement Strategies (NJ CARES) and the Opioid Education Foundation of America (OEFA).

The webinar, “Public Health Barriers in Addressing the Opioid Epidemic,” will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, July 27. Expert speakers will include Josiah D. Rich, MD, MPH, professor of medicine and epidemiology at Brown University and attending physician at The Miriam and Rhode Island Hospitals; Michele Calvo, director of Opioid Response and Policy at the New Jersey Department of Health; and Richard T. Jermyn, DO, interim dean of the Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine.

The speakers will examine addressing the opioid crisis as a public health crisis. While this increased focus on public health has produced positive results, there are still many barriers within the system that limit prevention, treatment and recovery, which experts will discuss.

“Progress has been made in the fight against the opioid epidemic, thanks in large part to tremendous coordination throughout the public health sphere,” said PDFNJ Executive Director Angelo Valente. “However, barriers still do exist, and it’s important that we recognize them and learn from professionals who are working to remove them.”

The webinar will be the seventh in the 2023 Knock Out Opioid Abuse Day Learning Series. PDFNJ has hosted the series in collaboration with OEFA and NJ CARES, which is responsible for overseeing addiction-fighting efforts across the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, and has focused on educating the community on various topics related to prevention, treatment and recovery.

The Knock Out Opioid Abuse Day Learning Series began in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic to educate New Jersey residents on various aspects of the opioid epidemic and its impact on New Jersey and the nation. It is a branch of PDFNJ’s Knock Out Opioid Abuse Day statewide initiative, which has been held annually on October 6 since 2016 to educate residents and prescribers on the risks of prescription opioids and to raise awareness of the opioid crisis throughout the state.

The 2022 Learning Series included 12 webinars that drew a total audience of more than 8,000 participants and featured various speakers discussing all aspects of the opioid epidemic, including Sam Quinones, Author of “Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic”; Dr. Andrew Kolodny, Medical Director of Opioid Policy Research, Heller School for Social Policy and Management; and former New Jersey Governor James E. McGreevey. Other speakers included representatives from the Drug Enforcement Administration, New Jersey State Police, National Institute on Drug Abuse, New Jersey Department of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Governor’s Council on Alcohol and Drug Addiction and New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs.

NJ CARES data shows that nearly 2,900 people in New Jersey died from suspected drug overdoses in 2022. A vast majority of these overdose deaths involved some form of opioid including prescription painkillers, heroin and synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl.

To learn more about the Knock Out Opioid Abuse Day and for a schedule of webinars, please visit knockoutday.drugfreenj.org.

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Best known for its statewide anti-drug advertising campaign, the Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey is a private not-for-profit coalition of professionals from the communications, corporate and government communities whose collective mission is to reduce demand for illicit drugs in New Jersey through media communication. To date, more than $200 million in broadcast time and print space has been donated to the Partnership’s New Jersey campaign, making it the largest public service advertising campaign in New Jersey’s history. Since its inception the Partnership has garnered 217 advertising and public relations awards from national, regional and statewide media organizations.