Federal Funding Cuts to Public Health Programs are Hurting Americans, Says Report

According to a report by the Coalition for Health Funding, overall federal funding for public health programs has been drastically cut over the past four years and it’s adversely affecting Americans in a direct way. Federal agencies that deal with substance abuse prevention and treatment have been affected the most.

The report, Faces of Austerity: How Budget Cuts Hurt America’s Health, released on July 15, analyzes the impact that federal public health budget cuts have on people and communities.
The National Institute of Health (NIH), which includes the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and comprises about half the federal government’s spending on public health, has experienced a 10 percent budget cut over the past year. Funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been slashed by 16 percent and funding for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), which includes the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) and the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) has been cut about 8 percent. 

The report highlights over 20 case studies that personalize and put a human face on the impact of these budget cuts. For example, “Heroin in Illinois: A State of Emergency,” features Allen Sandusky of the South Suburban Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse located in East Hazel Crest, Ill. In the study, Sandusky describes how his organization used funds from SAMHSA’s Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment block grant for prevention and treatment in the southern suburbs of Chicago. In 2013, these funds were reduced by over 10 percent. 

The report goes on to show how, at a time when “heroin use and addiction is at crisis levels nationally and in Illinois,” federal public health budget cuts have caused a 21 percent decline in funding for the South Suburban Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse. Such a large decline in funding in so short a period of time has led to a reduction in the organization’s staff size, reduced benefits, a decrease in the number of people receiving treatment and an almost complete elimination of ancillary services.  The study ends ominously by stating that by “the end of 2014, there is no guarantee that [the South Suburban Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse] will still be in operation.”

Through this report, the Coalition hopes to provide incentives in Congress to reverse the previous years’ cuts and help provide for a healthier America. 

For more information about this study, visit www.cutshurt.org.

CADCA to Unveil New Products to Help Address Prescription Drug Abuse at Mid-Year Training Institute

With prescription drug abuse at epidemic proportions, CADCA will unveil new tools at the 2014 Mid-Year Training Institute to help community leaders prevent and reduce prescription drug abuse and over-the-counter medicine abuse.

In addition to in-depth training on prescription drug abuse, CADCA will launch a new Prevent Prescription Drug Abuse Toolkit at the Mid-Year. This comprehensive Toolkit will provide strategies community leaders can implement to prevent and reduce prescription drug abuse. The content is based on CADCA’s evidence-based community problem-solving model and CADCA’s “Seven Strategies for Community Change." 

The new Toolkit will also include:

•    Fact Sheets on prescription drug abuse and over-the-counter medicine abuse
•    Success stories highlighting communities that have reduced prescription drug abuse
•    How to Conduct a Community Assessment on Rx Abuse
•    Sample Rx Abuse Prevention Logic Model
•    Sample Rx Abuse Prevention Intervention Maps
•    National Medicine Abuse Awareness Month Grassroots Media Kit
•    PowerPoint presentations for use at community meetings
•    Video case studies
•    Shareable tools

Also at the Mid-Year, CADCA will release a new OTC Literacy Utility Guide to equip teachers, youth and parents with guidance on the safe use and proper storage of over-the-counter medicines. The Guide is meant to help coalitions integrate the OTC Literacy curriculum, developed by Scholastic and the American Association of Poison Control Centers, into their community-based prevention work. 

Prescription drug abuse and over-the-counter medicine abuse is a multi-dimensional public health problem that demands comprehensive, coordinated solutions.  For more than a decade, CADCA and its coalition network have been developing strategies and achieving reductions in Rx and OTC drug misuse and abuse at the local level.  CADCA was among the first national organizations to sound the alarm, and we continue to provide to local leaders valuable policy and programmatic tools to educate the public and take steps at the population-level that mitigate the impact of this very serious issue. 

Between 2013 and 2014, CADCA trained leaders from throughout the country on effective prescription drug abuse prevention strategies at numerous state and national conferences, including the National Rx Drug Abuse Summit, the National Governors Association Policy Academy in Arkansas, and CADCA’s 2014 National Leadership Forums. CADCA also trained all state-level prescription drug monitoring program staff in our coalition-based prescription drug prevention model during a webinar hosted by the PDMP Center for Excellence at Brandeis University. 

In addition, CADCA hosted four town hall meetings last Fall and this Spring in Revere, Mass., Cincinnati, Ohio, Denver, Colo. and Jackson, Ohio to raise awareness of the prescription drug abuse problem and help local leaders find solutions to the problem in their communities. 

SEE ALSO: 

Engage with State-Level Partners to Reduce Prescription Drug Abuse at Mid-Year Training Institute

New Toolkit Available to Help Coalitions Plan Prescription Drug Take-Back Days

Highway to Heroin CADCA TV Webcast Debuts Feb. 28th