935: Federal Funding Cuts, Opioid Overdose Death Decline Strategies

JANSON SILVERS: 

This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Thursday, June 26, 2025. I'm Janson Silvers. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

RALPH ALVARADO: 

We know that for every dollar that's invested in WIC, you get market returns when it comes to health care in terms of reduction of obesity rates, and you're educating a next generation on how to eat properly and the foods that they need.

SILVERS: 

That's Dr. Ralph Alvarado of Tennessee discussing the value of programs like WIC during ASTHO's deskside briefing on the Impact of Nutrition on Chronic Disease [Prevention]. Alvarado served on a panel alongside ASTHO CEO, Dr. Joseph Kanter; ASTHO president, Dr. Scott Harris; ASTHO chief medical officer, Dr. Susan Kansagra, as well as fellow ASTHO members Dr. Lindsay Weaver of Indiana, and Dr. James McDonald of New York, who you can hear here discussing the consequences of federal funding cuts on public health.

JAMES MCDONALD: 

You're trying to shift the cost, then from the federal government to the state government. That's just going to be hard for any state to do that. You know, an example for WIC is that we love that people can go to a farmer's market. We really want that to continue, and that's really important for everybody. And you see this synergy. It helps the farmer, it helps the person. We love partnerships like that, but when you see cuts to SNAP, that really affects real people trying to get real food.

SILVERS: 

Like his colleague, Alvarado says that partnerships within the community play an increasingly important role in distributing nutritional resources across the state.

ALVARADO: 

We have an Office of Faith-Based Engagement within our own department, in which we cold call and reach out to many of our faith-based organizations who helped during the pandemic, who now we can talk to you about nutrition. Are you willing to help people out? Can we refer people to you, regardless of your ministry, to meet people's physical needs? And many of them are willing.

SILVERS: 

ASTHO member Dr. Weaver of Indiana shares some of the ways her state is able to get nutritious meals to those who may have trouble accessing them on their own.

LINDSAY WEAVER: 

There's medically-tailored meals where you can get meals made for you that fits what you need for your chronic disease and- and we know that that is- it's a lot cheaper than hospitalization from, you know, having some- some bad outcomes from your chronic disease.

SILVERS: 

The participating members continued their discussion on the importance of partnerships. Both across communities and legislatures, and we'll have more on that tomorrow right here on this newscast. Make sure you never miss an episode or interview by following the show wherever you get your podcasts.

The State of Vermont recently reported a decline in the number of annual opioid overdose deaths. Kelly Dougherty, with the Vermont Department of Health, shares the public health strategies her department employed to make a difference across the state.

KELLY DOUGHERTY: 

We have made naloxone available through community organizations, at schools. We have emergency responders who are required to leave behind or offer to leave behind naloxone when they're responding to an overdose, and we also instituted home delivery.

SILVERS: 

Dougherty says that while education and the distribution of harm reduction tools are essential to save lives, determining who to effectively target with resources is just as important.

DOUGHERTY: 

We started doing what we call a social autopsy report, where we look at all of the Vermonters who died of an overdose, and we look at what services or systems they may have been engaged with prior to an overdose, so that we can identify possible places for intervention.

SILVERS: 

According to Dougherty, data from the social autopsy report has allowed Vermont to provide assistance to the specific communities that may need it most.

DOUGHERTY: 

We noticed a couple of years ago that the construction industry, people who work in that industry, were really over-represented in our overdose deaths, so we started working with the Contractors Association in Vermont to provide education, again, on how to recognize an overdose, how to use naloxone, and having naloxone on-site so that they could respond.

SILVERS: 

The full report is online now. There's a link in the show notes.

Also, states across the country are reassessing vaccine policy and public health powers amid legislative changes that alter the authority of public health departments as well as access to vaccines. To learn more about how agencies can prioritize evidence-based public health authority to protect and improve health, read the full Health Policy Update by clicking the link in the show notes.

Finally, ASTHO's STAR Center, which stands for State and Territorial Administrative Readiness, offers resources and tools to help state and territorial health agencies modernize and strengthen administrative and organizational capacities. Use the link in the show notes to access it today.

That'll do it for today. We're back tomorrow 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 day.