WVU Public Health expert to share state's naloxone distribution program at upcoming national summit

At a national summit later this month, a WVU School of Public Health representative will showcase the statewide collaborative effort for naloxone distribution known as the West Virginia Rapid Response Project.

The project - a partnership with the DHHR's Bureaus for Behavioral Health and Public Health and the West Virginia University Injury Control Research Center (ICRC) - utilized funding from SAMHSA to purchase and distribute the kits throughout the state. Funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were then used to administer and evaluate the program.

Herb Linn, formerly of the ICRC and now with the School's Health Research Center, was invited to serve as the state's representative to present the project at the upcoming Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit in Atlanta, GA, on Monday, April 22, 2019.

Linn will provide a 15-minute presentation about the West Virginia Rapid Response Project during the Community Response Showcase, which will be followed by a question-and-answer period. With more than 8,000 kits assembled and distributed, it was among the first statewide naloxone distribution projects aimed at at increasing access to naloxone and preventing opioid overdose deaths.

The summit's advisory board created the showcase "to share examples of excellent state and local programs that attendees may consider replicating in their communities." The West Virginia Rapid Response Project will be one of nine programs featured during the showcase.

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Contact:
Kimberly Becker, Director of Marketing and Communications
WVU School of Public Health
304.293.1699; Kimberly.Becker@hsc.wvu.edu