White House Challenge to Save Lives from Overdose | DPC

Hello everyone, welcome to the White House!

It’s our honor to have you all here today, to discuss the SIGNIFICANT progress in this fight that we’ve been able to make TOGETHER.

I’m Neera Tanden, Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, and I’m honored to stand with all of you as we tackle one of the most urgent crises facing our nation: the opioid and overdose epidemic.

From day one, President Biden has made combatting the opioid crisis and reducing overdose deaths a defining priority of this administration.

This isn’t just a policy goal—it’s a life-saving mission.

It’s about saving lives today, meeting people where they are, and ensuring that help is available whenever, and WHEREVER they need it most.

The White House Challenge to Save Lives is the embodiment of this work.

In 2019 and 2020, Opioid overdose rates were skyrocketing.

President Biden and Vice President Harris recognized this crisis, taking immediate action to address this escalating tragedy.

Over the past four years, President Biden and Vice President Harris have led a historic, whole-of-government effort to tackle this epidemic.

In doing so, they’ve secured, and invested, unprecedented resources into saving American lives.

Recent preliminary CDC data shows that from April 2023, to April 2024, overdose deaths are now down 10 percent across America.

When we say we’re saving lives – this is what we mean.

This is the largest reduction in recorded overdose deaths ever. Let me say that again – that is the largest reduction ever recorded in opioid overdose deaths.

It’s the first time in over 5 years that rates have begun to fall.

We’re proud of the work of the Biden Harris Administration that has contributed to these saved lives.

In a groundbreaking move, we made the lifesaving treatment, naloxone, over-the-counter, for the first time in history.

President Biden and Vice President Harris successfully called for a bipartisan legislative action to stop the flow of illicit fentanyl into our communities, while holding accountable those responsible for trafficking.
The Biden-Harris administration then expanded access to life-saving care across America, investing in prevention, harm reduction, and recovery services.

We then invested unprecedented amounts in State and Tribal Opioid Response programs. BILLIONS of dollars.

Through this program, states have been able to provide treatment services to over 1.2 million people, across the country, since 2018.

States have been able to purchase over 10 million overdose reversal medication kits.

And, as a result, state health officials have been able to reverse more than 550,000 overdoses.

That’s over a half-million lives SAVED because of the work we’re doing TOGETHER.

This success is only possible because of the leaders in this room.

But any overdose death is an avoidable death. And many deaths could still be avoided with access to Naloxone.

So that’s why we need to build on our progress.

That’s WHY we launched the White House Challenge to Save Lives from Overdose.

That brings us to this amazing room today.

As you know, the Challenge is a call-to-action to leaders from every sector and industry, to make sure that all the people they touch—employees, customers, students, fans, and anyone else who might experience or witness an overdose—are trained and ready to use naloxone to save a life.

BECAUSE an overdose can happen ANYWHERE, it’s OUR job to make sure Naloxone is accessible EVERYWHERE.

We called on organizations—big and small, public and private, in every corner of the nation—to take action.

You answered that call, and then some.

Thanks to you, over 250 organizations that touch millions of Americans—in every single state of our nation—made commitments to the Challenge.

And in turn, millions of Americans are now safer than they were before.

Thanks to all of you:

If you’re a student or teacher at some of America’s biggest school districts—like Atlanta, Houston, or Los Angeles—naloxone is nearby.

If you’re watching a baseball game at any minor or major league ballpark in the country — naloxone is nearby.

And, if you’re 30,000 feet in the air on a flight with American, United, and Southwest Airlines, or 100 feet below ground on a train or metro car in major Cities all across the country—naloxone is nearby.

Thanks to you, Americans are safer in essentially EVERY ENVIRONMENT.

It’s clear that the challenge is ALREADY saving lives.

And I’m excited to announce, ADDITIONAL federal actions that will save EVEN more lives.

Today, the White House is proud to announce more whole-of-government actions directing, where possible, Federal Agency Leadership to equip their first responders and facilities with naloxone.

The Biden-Harris Administration wants naloxone in every government space, in the desk drawers for America’s workers, in safety cabinets at work, in public places, and in the medicine cabinets of people at home.

Today’s announcements will help us get there.

In addition, you’ll hear soon about the Postal Service’s heroic efforts in counties hardest hit by overdose, but understand that many other Federal agencies are also diligently utilizing their resources to get naloxone into communities.

We’re in this together. And we couldn’t do this without all of you.

You meet the people where they are, and crucially, you share the resources and knowledge to equip OTHERS to become lifesavers themselves.

Thank you—from the bottom of my heart and on behalf of President Biden and Vice President Harris—for all you’ve done and will do to beat the overdose crisis.

Because this work, OUR work TOGETHER, is making a real, definable difference.

And on the topic of making an immediate difference, it’s my distinct pleasure to introduce United States Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.

Under his leadership, and in partnership with the White House, the USPS will now procure and store naloxone doses, making them available in USPS facilities in counties that currently experience high rates of overdose.

USPS will also now train their employees to administer naloxone.

We’re so appreciative of this partnership, and look forward to hearing about the USPS’s work on this front. Postmaster General DeJoy, over to you!