The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted youth mental health, particularly as a result of school closures, social isolation, family economic hardship, fear of family loss or illness, and reduced ...
With many of the state and territorial legislatures reconvening over the next few weeks, we can look forward to new (and not-so-new) legislation start to crop up that will impact public health. To ...
The opioid crisis continues to claim the lives of thousands across the United States and has cost the economy billions in health care, mortality, and criminal justice costs. In 2018, it’s estimated ...
With data showing the number of the opioid overdose deaths escalated during the COVID-19 pandemic, access to naloxone, a medication that can reverse an opioid overdose, continues to be an important ...
This page features ASTHO’s legal mapping work to plot the legal landscape for public health priorities, beginning with policies intended to prevent overdose.
This ASTHOReport highlights the public health importance of three harm reduction policies and practices to reduce overdoses: facilitating community distribution of naloxone, facilitating community ...
A mid-session legislative update on five of ASTHO's top 10 public health state policy issues to watch in 2023: tobacco, HIV, mental health, PFAS, and opioids.
In the November 2020 election, voters in several states cast their ballots on proposals related to the use of legal and illicit drugs. These ballot proposals influence key public health issues such ...
State and local jurisdictions are developing Ending the HOV Epidemic plans. The EHE initiative has largely focused on four key strategies: Diagnose, Treat, Prevent, and Respond to potential ...
ASTHO interview with Elizabeth Harvey, PhD, MPH, a CDC Senior Maternal and Child Health Epidemiology Program assignee to the Tennessee Department of Health. Harvey shares her thoughts on the progress ...
Adopting a public health approach to substance use by implementing harm reduction policies across all levels of government can help communities address the overdose crisis. This post analyzes e
This brief outlines key considerations for state health departments to keep in mind as they create financing, data, and policy partnerships with behavioral health stakeholders.
State and territorial health agencies continue to be challenged by the opioid epidemic, which has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Addressing the opioid crisis requires a robust public ...
There are a number of court cases playing out across the country that could affect the options state and territorial health officials have to limit the spread of disease and promote health and ...
This ASTHOReport builds on a 2020 document and reflects the current state and federal landscape regarding disruptions, shares updated recommendations on strategies states might use to mitigate risks ...
In 2023 legislative sessions, states considered measures to improve access to care for pregnant people experiencing substance use disorder, increase provider knowledge of screening and treatment ...
Interest is using psilocybins to treat some disorders has reemerged. Some states are taking steps to put that interest into practice.
ASTHO’s 2024 Legislative Session Update: Part One legislative session, state policy, data collection, domestic violence, health information exchange, data privacy, substance misuse, overdose ...
How the Emergence of Xylazine Impacts Overdose Prevention Policy overdose prevention policy, overdose crisis, fatal overdoses, emergence of xylazine, illicit drug supply, toxicological testing, ...
States have begun to expand their focus when developing new approaches to improve surveillance, promote harm reduction, create linkages to care, and educate providers on opioid overdose reduction.