Gallego Urges CDC to Immediately Release Delayed Overdose Prevention Funds

WASHINGTON –Today,Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ)called on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to immediately release overdue funding for overdose prevention programs after months of delays.
“Communities across the country are confronting a worsening public health crisis, and the uncertainty surrounding critical funding for overdose prevention programs jeopardizes life-saving public health efforts,”wrote the Senator in a letter to CDC Director Susan Monarez.“As overdose prevention programs await funding clarity, their ability to deliver essential prevention services remains at risk – an unacceptable situation in the face of a national health crisis.”
According torecent CDC data, over 80,000 people died from a drug overdose in the U.S. in 2024, including over 2,500 in Arizona.
The CDC’s Overdose Data to Action (OD2A) initiative provides more than $300 million annually to 90 state, local, tribal, and territorial health departments for overdose surveillance, intervention, and prevention. Congress appropriated funding for the program in March 2025, butrecent reportingindicates that the funds remain in limbo.
“Community overdose prevention programs are on the front lines of combatting this public health crisis and rely heavily on these federal funds to deliver life-saving services. It is imperative that all federal funds are distributed without further delay,”the Senator concluded.
Senator Gallego called on the CDC to provide:
Read the full letterHERE.
8/19/25