August 31 is International Overdose Awareness Day

Communities around the world will come together on August 31 for International Overdose Awareness Day to honor the thousands of lives lost to and affected by drug overdose. The day of observation is the world’s largest annual campaign to end overdose and reduce the stigma around drug-related overdose deaths.

Overdose deaths are skyrocketing around the world and nation. In 2021, provisional data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimated there were 107,622 drug overdose deaths in the U.S. In Washington state, over 17,500 residents died from a drug overdose between 2007 and 2021, with 68 percent of those deaths involving an opioid such as fentanyl.

In response to the growing numbers of fentanyl and opioid overdose deaths, the Washington State Health Care Authority (HCA) launched the “Friends for Life” statewide fentanyl education campaign earlier this year. The campaign seeks to inform Washingtonians about the risks of fentanyl and the power of naloxone to reverse opioid overdoses.