Officials at Highmark’s Fifth Avenue Place headquarters in Pittsburgh will light the building purple on Wednesday to mark International Overdose Awareness Day and to draw attention to the resources available for those living with addiction.
That’s just one event in a flurry of activity that will mark the day.
The Westmoreland Drug & Alcohol Commission will host an Overdose Awareness Day program from 4 to 6 p.m. Wednesday in Pavilion 2 at Twin Lakes Park, 219 Twin Lakes Road, Unity. It will include speakers, a memorial display, a resource table with free naloxone, activities and more.
Penn-Trafford Citizens for Drug Awareness also will host an awareness event from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, at the Penn Township Municipal Park Complex, 2001 Municipal Court. It will include a candlelight vigil, a resource vendor area, guest speaker Tim Grealish and more.
Overdose deaths in Allegheny County rose last year to the highest level since they peaked in 2017, mirroring trends in Westmoreland County and Pennsylvania as a whole, according to statistics released Friday.
In 2021, 719 people in Allegheny County died of drug overdoses, accounting for a quarter of all cases investigated by the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office.
That’s a 5% increase over drug-related deaths in the county in 2020.
In Westmoreland County, overdose deaths rose from 123 in 2020 to 166 in 2021.
Highmark’s vice president and executive medical director for strategic initiatives, Dr. Caesar DeLeo, said the insurer’s efforts have reduced overdoses among its commercial risk, Medicare Advantage and Affordable Care Act members in Pennsylvania by nearly 37% over the past three years.
“Our continued focus is improving quality of pain management, safe prescribing and enhancing efforts to promote early screening for substance use disorders in primary care offices in order to identify and address problems when they are still small,” DeLeo said.
The company has established a grassroots organization of more than 600 employees called LEARN, which stands for Learn more about substance abuse disorders; Educate others; Advocate for reforms and effective treatment; aid Recovery efforts and Network among one another, within their communities and within organizations to dispel stigma and promote harm reduction.
Health care groups and nonprofits across the region offer programs and services to help reduce the likelihood of overdosing:
• Prevention Point Pittsburgh is a nonprofit whose mission is to promote and advocate harm-reduction strategies associated with injection and to reduce the risk of HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C, other blood-borne infections and overdoses. PPPgh.org
• Sage’s Army in Westmoreland County was formed by the family of overdose victim Sage Capozzi. It is a nonprofit with locations in Greensburg and Irwin, with a mission to offer support, guidance and resources to people affected by substance abuse. The group runs a 24-hour help-line at 724-863-5433. SagesArmy.com
• The Westmoreland County Drug and Alcohol Commission accepts requests to send free naloxone to county residents. Naloxone is an opioid blocker that can quickly reverse the effects of an overdose.
