Bill Clinton and Johns Hopkins Highlight Faith Leaders' Role in Tackling Drug Overdoses
Drug overdose deaths have spiked during the coronavirus pandemic, taking the lives of 87,203 Americans over a 12-month period that ended in September, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
This compares to nearly 68,757 drug deaths during the same period a year earlier.
In Maryland alone, there have been 2,600 reported drug deaths over a 12-month period that ended September, compared with 2,300 deaths in the state during the same period last year, according to federal data.
The surge in drug overdose deaths is a reminder that longstanding public health challenges continue during a global pandemic, Ellen J. MacKenzie, dean of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said in a webinar on the overdose crisis Tuesday with former President Bill Clinton and religious leaders.
Clinton (D) underscored the role that faith leaders can play to help address this public health crisis and to push against stigmatization of substance abuse disorders that often deters people from seeking help.
Read more: https://www.marylandmatters.org/2021/05/05/bill-clinton-and-johns-hopkins-highlight-faith-leaders-role-in-tackling-drug-overdoses/