CEO Update 145
HHS Secretary Becerra Extends Covid-19 Public Health Emergency
U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra has extended the public health emergency (PHE) due to the Covid-19 global pandemic, effective April 21.
The declaration typically lasts for 90 days, which would extend the PHE to July 20, given that Becerra renewed the PHE on April 21.
Researchers to Begin Work on Opioid Vaccine with $25 Million NIH Grant
Using a $25 million grant from the National Institutes of Health Helping to End Long-term initiative (HEAL), scientists from Boston Children’s Hospital’s Precision Vaccines Program and professors of psychology and medicinal chemistry at the University of Houston have partnered to develop an adjuvant opioid use disorder (OUD) vaccine.
An announcement from the University of Houston noted that an adjuvant molecule boosts the immune system’s response to vaccines, which is critical for the effectiveness of anti-addiction vaccines. The vaccine targets fentanyl, a synthetic opioid.
Therese Kosten, Ph.D., professor of psychology at the University of Houston, said in the announcement that the vaccine could be a “game changer” for addiction. Kosten also serves as director of the university’s Developmental, Cognitive & Behavioral Neuroscience program.
“Fentanyl is different than heroin or other opioids in the way that it stimulates the nervous system,” Kosten said. “It activates the same receptors in the brain as heroin or morphine but does so by a different mechanism, which makes drugs that can reverse a heroin overdose, like Narcan, almost ineffective against it,” she added.
Kosten received $1.8 million of the grant to make the combination of the adjuvant with the vaccine as powerful as possible.
The NIH HEAL initiative is a trans-NIH effort to speed scientific solutions to the nation’s opioid public health crisis. The program launched in April 2018 and is focused on improving prevention and treatment strategies for opioid misuse and addiction and enhancing pain management.
Bipartisan Policy Center Establishes Opioid Task Force
Former U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams, M.D. and former HHS Secretary Donna Shalala are among the members of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s (BPC) new Opioid Crisis Task Force that will develop evidence-based recommendations for Congress and the Biden administration.
Announced this week, the new task force also includes former Gov. Steve Beshear (D-Ky.), former U.S. Rep. Mary Bono (R-Calif.), Richard Frank, Ph.D., professor of health economics at Harvard University, Patrice Harris, M.D., former president of the American Medical Association, and former Gov. Susanna Martinez (R-N.M.).
The BPC’s announcement cited preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that show more than 90,000 Americans died from drug overdose deaths from October 2019 to September 2020, reflecting nearly a 30% increase from the previous year.
“Congress has made substantial financial investments to tackle the opioid epidemic, yet drug overdoses and mortality rates continue to climb, driven by illicitly manufactured fentanyl, with the highest increase in mortality among Black communities,” Anand Parekh, M.D., the BPC’s chief medical advisor who leads the project, said in an announcement. “We must determine more effective ways to utilize federal investments to combat this epidemic and close the gap between those who are seeking treatment and those receiving it.”
The task force will release a final report in early 2022.
HHS Introduces Video Series on Disability Rights Protections that Apply to Some Individuals in Recovery from OUD
HHS this week announced it has developed a five-part video series titled “Civil Rights Protections for Individuals in Recovery from an Opioid Use Disorder.”
The series is intended to inform audiences about how to apply federal disability rights laws to child welfare programs and activities; discuss protections that apply to some individuals in recovery from an OUD; provide an overview of medication-assisted treatment, or MAT; and address common misconceptions about MAT as a treatment approach.
HHS’ Office of Civil Rights, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and the Administration for Children and Families have partnered with the National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare to develop the series.
Click here to learn more and to watch the videos.
NCOA to Host Older Adult Mental Health Awareness Day Symposium on May 6
The National Council on Aging (NCOA), along with the U.S. Administration for Community Living and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) will host the 4th Annual Older Adult Mental Health Awareness Day Symposium as a virtual event on Thursday, May 6.
Registration is free, and the all-day event for public health practitioners, professionals in the aging networks, mental health providers, healthcare professionals, and others interested in the mental health of older adults will address topics such as access to behavioral health in diverse older adults, latest interventions related to SUDs, and socialization and engagement.
Learn more from the program’s agenda and click here to register.
NIAA Alcohol Treatment Navigator Includes FAQs and Toolkit for Finding Quality Treatment
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAA) Alcohol Treatment Navigator is available to direct adults and families to finding evidence-based care for alcohol treatment.
The resource includes sections on what to know about alcohol treatment, how to find quality treatment, and how to get support through the process, as well as frequently asked questions and a toolkit. Because the NIAA developed the Navigator, it has no commercial sponsors.
Save the Date: NABH 2021 Annual Meeting
NABH will host its 2021 Annual Meeting from Wednesday, Oct. 6 – Friday, Oct. 8, 2021 at the Mandarin Oriental Washington, DC.
The association re-scheduled for this later date in 2021 due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. We hope you can join us!
After 2021, NABH will host its subsequent Annual Meetings in June. Please save the date for these future NABH Annual Meetings:
- June 13-15, 2022
- June 12-14, 2023