Harris County invests $306K to evaluate efforts to reduce opioid overdoses

In Harris County, the number of drug overdose deaths similarly rose from 840 deaths that occurred between October 2019 and September 2020 to 1,039 deaths that occurred in the following 12 months, according to NCHS provisional data.

UTHealth Assistant Professor J. Michael Wilkerson will lead the evaluation, according to the interlocal agreement attached to the court’s May 24 agenda. The agreement will last until Aug. 31, unless terminated earlier.

“With our border issues now, and the drugs flowing freely, that's only gonna get worse,” Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey said. “So anything we can do here from a preventative standpoint to just trying to take care of the tremendous need, that should be something that would receive a ... high priority.”

Before commissioners voted on the opioid overdose reduction agreement, Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis asked Robinson if there were any other HCPH focuses that lacked funding. Robinson replied that more maternal and child health care programs are needed in Harris County communities.

“There is a tremendous need for those services and programs, and many [others] on the continuum of prevention as it relates to chronic disease, our HIV/AIDS prevention and intervention services, just to name a few,” Robinson said.

Jishnu Nair and Wesley Gardner contributed to this report.