The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Wednesday awarded $519,117 to the Indiana State Department of Health to expand overdose prevention outreach.
The ISDH will distribute the funding to 12 counties with high drug overdose rates, including Jennings County, where 15 people overdosed on heroin this month, leaving one person dead.
The funds will increase education and training in the overdose-intervention drug naloxone for first responders and lay providers. In addition, the money will provide technical assistance to organizations working to increase awareness of opioid prescribing practices.
"By helping at-risk counties assess their data in real time and educating them about naloxone and the role prescribing plays in this epidemic, we can make real progress in the fight against opioid abuse," said Jerome Adams, State Health Commissioner, in a statement.
The fund runs through August 31, 2017.