In February 2022 Vital Strategies launched the Support Harm Reduction campaign.
The goal of this award winning public awareness initiative is to build support for harm reduction measures such as: fentanyl test strips and other drug checking tools so that people can test for harmful additives in drugs; sterile syringes and other safer drug use supplies to stop the spread of HIV and Hepatitis C; naloxone in community hands to reverse fatal overdoses; methadone and buprenorphine access for those struggling with opioid dependence; and overdose prevention centers, such as those recently opened in New York.
A new, interactive, online memorial was launched today by the public health organization Vital Strategies to honor those who have lost their lives to a drug overdose—more than one million in the past two decades in the U.S.—far surpassing car crashes and firearm fatalities combined. Inspired by the AIDS quilt, the digital mosaic allows anyone to commemorate a loved one lost to overdose, and calls for urgent action in their name.
The memorial’s launch is accompanied by the largest-ever national advertising campaign promoting harm reduction to raise awareness about common-sense ways to save lives, such as distributing the opioid overdose reversal drug naloxone to people who use drugs and their loved ones. Following the national launch, Vital Strategies will share the campaign in some of the states hardest-hit by the overdose crisis.