Prevention is critical to reducing overdoses and overdose deaths. The strategy promotes tiered, multidisciplinary prevention activities, ranging from population-level strategies to targeted interventions aimed at high-risk individuals. These activities engage health and human services providers directly and facilitate cross-sector collaboration on prevention.
This page highlights current federal activities that support prevention by expanding research of new and improved prevention efforts, investing in community resources to help prevent harms related to substance use, increasing access to high-quality pain management to reduce preventable suffering, and promoting responsible prescription of medications to protect patient safety.
Support research and surveillance to develop and improve delivery of prevention interventions.
Featured Activity Surveillance for Overdose and Substance Use Related Harms
A detailed, comprehensive and standardized framework to collect fatal and non-fatal overdose data across the nation, the State Unintentional Drug Overdose Reporting System (SUDORS) and Drug Overdose Surveillance and Epidemiology (DOSE) systems aim to improve how overdose information is reported.
Lead Agency:
CDC
NIH's Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study
Lead Agency:
NIH
Partner Agency:
CDC
Transformed-Medicaid Statistical Information System (T-MSIS) Data for Substance Use Disorder Trends
Lead Agency:
CMS
Facilitate the implementation of evidence-based primary prevention across the lifespan.
Featured Activity Strategic Prevention Framework for Prescription Drugs (Short Title: SPF Rx) grant program
Working with the pharmaceutical and medical community, the Strategic Prevention Framework for Prescription Drugs (SPFRx) raises awareness about the risks of overprescribing and the dangers of sharing prescription drugs.
Lead Agency:
SAMHSA
Overdose Data to Action (OD2A)
Lead Agency:
CDC
Preventing Adverse Childhood Experiences: Data to Action
Lead Agency:
CDC
2021 State Pilot Grant Program for Treatment for Pregnant and Postpartum Women
Lead Agency:
SAMHSA
Prioritize Opioid Treatment Program (OTP) Admissions for Pregnant Patients
Lead Agency:
SAMHSA
Support development of and promote evidence-based treatments to effectively manage pain.
Featured Activity CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids – United States, 2022 and Other Health System Activities
CDC is updating and expanding the 2016 Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain, based on updated evidence and data, drawing from the contributions of multiple stakeholder groups of researchers, patients, providers, and other key participants. The updated guideline will be supplemented with a set of enhanced communication resources and training materials.
Explore frequently asked questions on prescribing opioids for chronic pain
Lead Agency:
CDC
Partner Agency:
AHRQ, CMS, FDA, HHS, HRSA, IHS, NIH, ONC, SAMHSA
NIH HEAL Initiative Clinical Research in Pain Management
Lead Agency:
NIH
Systematic Review Series on Pain Management
Lead Agency:
AHRQ
Partner Agency:
CDC
Reduce clinically inappropriate prescribing of medications with misuse potential.
Featured Activity Addressing the Safe Use of Benzodiazepines
To better educate the patient and prescriber communities about the safe use of benzodiazepines (medications also known as sedatives or tranquilizers), the FDA is working with the medical community to improve patient education, support research on tapering and withdrawal, and more effectively gather perspectives from patients, providers and communities.
Lead Agency:
FDA
Over Prescriber Support Strategy (OPSS)
Lead Agency:
CMS
Reconsidering Mandatory Opioid Prescriber Education via Opioid Analgesic Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS)
Lead Agency:
FDA