Opioid Abuse Case Study

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The abuse and addiction of opioids such as heroin, morphine and other drugs that severely affect individual health, social and economic welfare is a national issue. An estimated 1.9 million people in the United States suffered from substance use disorder due to opioid prescription pain medication in 2013 and 517000 sustained from heroin use disorder (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2014). Opioid abuse and addiction have become a public health epidemic with devastating consequences such as overdoses, newborns with neonatal abstinence syndrome because of their mothers used these substances during pregnancy, an increase in the spread of infectious diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C.
Due to the epidemic of opioids abuse, addiction and impacts on public safety National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) recommended interventions:
• Educational initiatives in schools and community
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Health and Human Services is a leading agency for behavioral health, delegated substance abuse and mental health services administration (SAMHSA) to reduce the impact of substance abuse and mental illness on America’s communities following the fire prongs of HHS’s strategy.
SAMHSA assisted in reducing the epidemic of opioid use, addiction, dependence, and deaths by increasing access to treatment, reducing unwanted treatment and reducing opioid overdose and fatalities. Under SAMHSA pregnant and post-partum women’s (PPW) program was established to help women with opioid or other substance use disorders encouraged to access MAT for