MADISON — Ahead of International Overdose Awareness Day, Aug. 31, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) is highlighting new state efforts to end overdose deaths and improve the health of people who use drugs. This annual observance, as proclaimed by Gov. Tony Evers, is a day to remember those lost to drug overdose, acknowledge the grief of family and friends left behind, and act to save lives.
“Too many of our family members, friends, and neighbors are dying due to an unsafe drug supply, with no community immune to the impacts of the overdose epidemic,” said DHS Director of Substance Use Initiatives Michelle Haese. “Together we can make a difference by meeting people who use drugs where they’re at in their life journey without judgement, just the support and tools they need to stay safe.”
Drug overdoses decreased slightly nationally and in Wisconsin in 2023, the first decrease since 2018. Despite this, more than 1,700 fatal drug overdoses occurred in Wisconsin in 2023, an increase of 45% since 2018. Most overdoses involve fentanyl, a powerful opioid, and other drugs, like cocaine and methamphetamine, or a combination of multiple drugs.
DHS continues to work with programs, services and partners, including more than 100 community coalitions around the state, to find solutions to the overdose epidemic. Overdose fatality review teams in 21 counties look at each local death to find ways to save lives and a mobile harm reduction response team works with people who use drugs to reduce the risk of infection, overdose, and death. Mobile opioid treatment programs make it easier to get medications for opioid use disorder.
This month, DHS is taking more steps to meet the needs of Wisconsin communities.
These actions include:
Creating and implementing local naloxone saturation plans
DHS is working with community agencies statewide to ensure naloxone is available for free to people who need it when they need it. Naloxone is the opioid overdose reversal medication. Naloxone distributors have attended regional meetings focused on identifying and addressing opportunities for greater naloxone access for people who use drugs and people who may witness a drug overdose.
Supporting the purchase of public health vending machines
Twenty-two community agencies received grants to purchase public health vending machines stocked with the free lifesaving tools like naloxone and fentanyl test strips. The grantees include:
● Ashland County Health and Human Services
● Chippewa County Department of Public Health
● City of Racine Public Health Department
● Clark County Department of Social Services
● Crawford County Health and Human Services
● Dane County Emergency Management-EMS Division
● Florence County Health Department
● Forest County Potawatomi Community
● Grand Chute Fire Department
● Greater Green Bay YMCA
● Ho-Chunk Nation
● Iowa County Health Department
● Jackson County Public Health
● Juneau County Health Department
● Kenosha County Public Health
● Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians
● Public Health Sauk County
● South Milwaukee-St. Francis Health Department
● St. Croix County Health and Human Services
● Taylor County Health Department
● Waukesha County Department of Health and Human Services
● Waupaca County Department of Public Health
In addition, 10 community agencies received grants to purchase supplies for existing public health vending machines. These agencies include Hope Council on Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse, Langlade County Health Department, Madison Street Medicine, Milwaukee Turners, North Shore Health Department, Portage County Health and Human Services, Rock County Public Health Department, Southwest Suburban Health Department, Tellurian Behavioral Health, and Wood County Health Department.
All Tribal nations, county and municipal government agencies, and nonprofit agencies were invited to apply for a portion of the $2,250,000 in one-time funding designated for these grants.
More than 80 locations across the state are expected to have a public health vending machine when the units funded by the grants announced today are placed, with many locations open to the public 24/7.
Maps on the DHS website show the locations of all vending machines providing free naloxone and fentanyl test strips.
Providing navigators to connect people who use drugs to health and wellness services
Seven community agencies received annual grants through 2028 to expand or establish navigator programs that connect people who use drugs to services designed to lessen the harms associated with drug use. These services may include programs offering drug checking supplies, syringe services, wound care, and substance use disorder treatment. The grantees include:
● Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians
● Hope Council on Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse, Kenosha
● Meriter Unity Point Health, Madison
● Public Health Madison and Dane County
● Public Health Sauk County
● Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers, Milwaukee
● Wisconsin Community Services, Milwaukee
Establishing a Harm Reduction Technical Assistance Center
Vivent Health has been awarded $250,000 annually through 2028 to provide training and technical assistance to community agencies that engage with people who use drugs. This support includes acting as a resource hub, identifying and addressing barriers people who use drugs face in accessing health and wellness services, and training staff at the community organizations on best practices for working with clients.
DHS work to address drug use is funded primarily by grants from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, as well as the state government’s share of Wisconsin’s opioid settlement dollars.
Find more information about how to build supportive communities where prevention works, treatment is available, and recovery can happen for everyone on the DHS Real Talks Wisconsin webpages.