Overdose Episodes

In this episode, Jessica Pough, director of overdose preparedness and response at ASTHO, talks about a new tool designed to help communities prepare before a crisis hits.

Dr. Novneet Sahu, deputy commissioner for public health at the New Jersey Department of Health, discusses his state’s multi-pronged strategy to improve vaccine access and address vaccine confidence in response to a national rise in pediatric flu deaths; Thaddeus Pham, viral hepatitis prevention coordinator at the Hawaii Department of Health, explains...

Dr. Edward Simmer, ASTHO member and interim director of the South Carolina Department of Public Health, celebrates the department’s one-year anniversary with a recap of their achievements, including the highest health ranking in the state’s history; Dr. Bryant Thomas Karras, the Washington State Department of Health’s chief medical informatics officer,...

This special episode of Public Health Review Morning Edition revisits a popular episode from April 18, 2025. Dr. Allison Arwady, director of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control at the CDC, tells us about historic progress in the field of overdose prevention; Catherine Murphy, ASTHO government affairs analyst, discusses the advocacy effort from ASTHO’s Spring Leadership Forum.

Dr. Joseph Kanter, ASTHO CEO; Dr. Scott Harris, ASTHO president; Dr. Susan Kansagra, ASTHO chief medical officer; Dr. Lindsay Weaver of Indiana; Dr. James McDonald of New York; and Dr. Ralph Alvarado of Tennessee, share more from Tuesday’s deskside briefing on the Impact of Nutrition on Chronic Disease Prevention; Kelly Dougherty, deputy commissioner at the Vermont Department of Health, explains...

Lily McClure, workforce director for the Texas Department of State Health Services, tells us how Texas benefited from the ASTHO Peer Assessment Program; Christina Mullins, deputy secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders at the West...

Dr. Karen Hacker, director of the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at the CDC, says Medicaid and Medicare may be able to help keep community health workers on the front lines; Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, vice president and...

Monika Salvage, project director for Cayuga County in New York, explains their participation in the HEALing Communities Study; Dr. Hao Yu, associate professor at Harvard Medical School, conducted a national study on the effect of record heat on EMS;...

Dr. Alison Athey, associate behavioral scientist at RAND, worked with her colleagues to take a deeper look at the impact of overdose deaths; Connie Moon Sehat, principal investigator of the Analysis and Response Toolkit for Trust Project, says the...

Dr. Barbara Wallace, director of the Division of Chronic Disease Prevention at the New York State Department of Health, discusses various strategies to curb tobacco use; Dr. Marcus Plescia, ASTHO chief medical officer, worries that too many sick...

Dr. Steven Stack, ASTHO president and commissioner of public health for the Commonwealth of Kentucky, discusses substance misuse and overdose prevention strategies; Dr. Susan Kansagra, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services assistant...

Dr. Sameer Vohra, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, examines the third edition of the state’s maternal morbidity and mortality report; Dr. Umair Shah, secretary of health for the Washington State Department of Health, discusses...

ASTHO President and Kentucky Health Commissioner Dr. Steven Stack says easier access to naloxone could help prevent many overdose deaths; former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams says naloxone should be as easy to find as AED devices that prevent...

Sowmya Kuruganti, Analyst with ASTHO’s Family and Child Health Team, discusses disturbing numbers surrounding overdose-related deaths among pregnant and postpartum people; Shelby McCulley, Director of the Bureau of Youth Services at the Wisconsin...