652: Naloxone Distribution Challenges, Appropriations Advocacy

JANSON SILVERS: 

This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Friday, April 26, 2024. I'm Janson Silvers. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

COREY DAVIS: 

It's a good question. There's no silver bullets here. Right?

SILVERS: 

That's Corey Davis, the director of the Harm Reduction Legal Project at the Network for Public Health Law discussing the challenges of improving naloxone distribution.

DAVIS: 

Moving some of the Naloxone formulations over the counter helps to reduce some barriers, but it doesn't really do anything to address cost barriers. So, what we need is called naloxone saturation.

SILVERS: 

Davis says being strategic about where you distribute is important.

DAVIS: 

Health departments and basically everybody who cares about this should be making sure that they are dedicating their limited resources to the place where they're going to be most effective. And that means, you know, saturating areas and groups of people at highest risk with naloxone.

SILVERS: 

Many states have legal barriers to harm reduction strategies, but some are moving away from those.

DAVIS: 

Minnesota actually went and repealed almost all of its state paraphernalia laws. So in Minnesota, it's no longer illegal to have to give out not only fentanyl test strips and other drug checking supplies, but also syringes and pipes and other things that people who use drugs use to use drugs more safely.

SILVERS: 

ASTHO has several resources on this topic, including its Public Health Legal Mapping Center, you can find those links in the show notes.

It takes a lot of time and effort to advocate for funding priorities. And the ASTHO team is already on the Hill talking to lawmakers. ASTHO's, Carolyn Mullen joins us to discuss the work and what it means for public health funding. In this week's View from Washington, D.C. report. Carolyn Mullen always great to have you here. How are you today?

CAROLYN MULLEN: 

I'm wonderful and happy Friday to our listeners.

SILVERS: 

That's right. Happy Friday and happy time to advocate because that's the time of year that you and your team are in the Fiscal Year 2025 Appropriations Advocacy is underway. So what is the latest?

MULLEN: 

So, the latest is for fiscal year 2025, as a reminder to our listeners that the overall amount of funding available, only increases by 1%. So in fact, this year is a cut because it's not keeping up with inflationary increases. So that's unfortunate. But despite that asked it was up on the Hill. This is the time of year where we meet with members of Congress and talk about our priorities, which include public health infrastructure, data modernization, the prevent block grant, preparedness funding, etc. So far, our Hill visits have gone over really well. We're hearing that during the negotiations of fiscal year 2024 That in fact, the line items we care about fared pretty well in the final bill. So we take that as a positive development. But that doesn't mean that we need to rest easy. We're going to be up there a lot in the next couple of weeks talking to members of Congress and see where we can find common ground.

SILVERS: 

That's always so important. And so common ground is one thing, but are there any tips or tricks that you guys are going to be using as you work towards cultivating champions for public health on the Hill?

MULLEN: 

One of the most important things that lobbyists and advocates can do is really listen to members of Congress, we spend a lot of time talking about our priorities. But we need to spend time listening and understanding what members of Congress priorities are. So, something that my team has done this year, is really listening to all the budget hearings that have been happening on the Hill with Secretary Becerra and listening to the types of questions that members of Congress have been asking. And they've created actually a chart, which matches what members of Congress ask with our priorities. And so when when we go in to meet with these members of Congress, we can say, hey, Senator Smith, we know you talked about maternal and child health programs. Let me talk to you about Title Five MCH Block Grant and how that's so important to your state. So it's really finding that common ground, also elevating ASTHO as a go to resource for members of Congress, but knowing that we can really target our advocacy in a sophisticated way, so that we can hopefully increase funding for our priority programs, but also programs that our affiliated partners care about.

SILVERS: 

And then one other item to kind of touch on. I know that beyond funding advocacy, Senator Sanders actually issued an RFI on Long COVID. Did ASTHO respond to that at all? And if so, what did you say?

MULLEN: 

We did respond, and I'm so grateful for our board of directors for approving our long COVID policy statement just about a year ago. It was the easiest letter I've ever written in my entire career. I was able to look at the policy statement and look at the legislative proposal and say, hey, Senator Sanders, here are some areas that we think need further elevation as you consider a Long COVID package. And so we really focused on asking Senator Sanders to prioritize Long COVID prevention, promote policies to support people living with Long COVID. And to ensure there are clear definitions and diagnostic criteria for Long COVID that was included in our policy statement, and were not as fully fleshed out in this legislative proposal. So hopefully, when we see the final bill make its way through Congress, we know that we contributed in a meaningful way to that to help bolster Senator Sanders and his work on a really critical issue.

SILVERS: 

Well, it sounds like you and your team have plenty on your plate. And so we always want to thank you for your time on the Hill, and for your time here on Fridays.

MULLEN: 

My pleasure and thanks so much to the government affairs team for all their work here.

SILVERS: 

Also today, the CDC has a warning about the dangers of some Botox out there. O'Keyla Cooper has more.

O'KEYLA COOPER: 

The CDC has issued a Health Alert Network health advisory to warn clinicians about the dangers of counterfeit or mishandled botulinum toxin injections, clinicians are urged to differentiate between localized adverse effects and early signs of botulism, emphasizing the need for prompt reporting to health departments. When suspecting botulinum toxin related issues. Find the full advisory and the link provided in the show notes.

SILVERS: 

Finally, this morning if you want public health updates from the Hill each week, sign up for ASTHO's Legislative Alerts. They'll keep you up to date about the latest in D.C. affecting your work. The link is in the show notes.

That'll do it for today. We're back on Monday morning with more ASTHO news and information. I'm Janson Silvers, you're listening to the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition. Have a great weekend.