The 37.2-million-dollar grant will support the work of Kentucky’s Overdose Response Effort known as KORE. The program provides education and free distribution of Naloxone, the life-saving drug that can reverse an overdose.
Governor Andy Beshear said the three-year grant will help further address the overdose crisis by increasing access to prevention, treatment, and recovery services through accredited partnerships already established across the state.
“Just last year, we funded programs that delivered free treatment and recovery services to over 32,600 Kentuckians and reached 145,000 youth through school and community-based prevention programs.”
Beshear said work is also being done to reduce opioid overprescribing and expand free access to Naloxone.
Jody Jaggers of the Kentucky Pharmacists Association said since 2018, more than 400-thousand two-dose units of Naloxone have been distributed, contributing to a 10% drop in overdose deaths in Kentucky. According to Jaggers, more than 55 hundred overdoses were reversed in 2023.
“That represents 5,500 lives saved. 5,500 more opportunities for individuals to find healing and recovery. And so, it's always important for us to put numbers into context that they are people. They're someone’s loved one, child, spouse, brother, sister. And so, we never need to forget that.”
This funding, coupled with a reduction in the cost of the products, will help the state provide upwards of 120 two-dose units of Naloxone annually over the next three years across the state.
