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Suicide Is an Urgent Public Health Problem in America
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The Pew Charitable Trusts has launched a suicide risk reduction project and reports that suicide screening can connect people to treatment and save lives. The Centers for disease Control and Prevention says that more than 47,500 people died by suicide in 2019–which translates to one death every 11 minutes–and more than 12 million adults had thoughts of suicide.
In a move designed to streamline regulation of overthe- counter drugs, Congress passed—and President Donald Trump signed—legislation in March that will allow the Food and Drug Administration to move more quickly to address safety concerns and permit manufacturers to more easily market new products.
Drug overdose deaths skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic: Provisional data covering a 12-month period shows that overdose deaths reached the record-setting number of more than 99,000 fatalities as of March 2021. Opioid treatment programs (OTPs)—the only health care facilities that can offer patients all three forms of medication for opioid use disorder (OUD): methadone, buprenorphine, and injectable extended-release naltrexone—are critical to reducing overdose deaths and providing life-saving addiction treatment. But they do so only if patients are able to access services.
While much of the health care sector has increased its use of data to inform patient care and institutional decisions, many 911 call centers—which are a gateway to receiving emergency care—are lagging, leaving communities without the information needed to improve responses, including for those experiencing a behavioral health crisis.
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