U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith announced that Mississippi has been awarded an additional $3.98 million to increase access to opioid treatments.
The state will use the grant, funded through the State Opioid Response (SOR) Grant program, to treat opioid addiction and to reduce unmet treatment needs.
“This funding will allow Mississippi to continue responding to this pervasive problem, which affects too many Mississippians,” Hyde-Smith said. “I especially appreciate that this grant will help expand the availability of treatments to areas that don’t have easy access to this care.”
Treatments would include access to medication-assisted treatment using the three Food and Drug Administration-approved medications for the treatment of opioid use disorder, reducing unmet treatment need, and reducing opioid overdose related deaths. Services would include additional prevention and recovery activities for opioid use disorder.
The federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration administers the State Opioid Response Grant program, which is part of a strategic opioid response initiative supported by President Trump and funded through congressional appropriations.
Mississippi was awarded $11.5 million in FY2018 in opioid funding through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Congress increased FY2019 appropriations for SAMHSA to combat the opioid epidemic and reduce opioid-related deaths nationwide.
Hyde-Smith serves on the Senate appropriations subcommittee responsible for funding HHS and its efforts to aid state, local, and tribal governments in fighting the opioid epidemic.
