For Immediate Release: January 11, 2022
Contact: press@clintonfoundation.org
President Clinton Continues to Bring Faith and Science Leaders Together to Fight the Overdose Crisis
As overdose deaths hit one million since 1999, the Clinton Foundation, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and The Centre for Responsible Leadership continue this critical series of convenings.
Participants in next month’s convening include Patrick J. Kennedy, Former U.S. Representative and Lead Author of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act; Dr. Chinazo Cunningham, Acting Commissioner of the New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports; and Rabbi Arthur Schneier, Senior Rabbi of New York City’s Park East Synagogue, Founder and President, Appeal of Conscience Foundation, and human rights activist.
New York, NY – On Tuesday, February 1, 2022, President Bill Clinton will bring leaders from faith and science together to take action on the worsening crisis of addiction and overdose in the United States. Based on recent data, overdose deaths are expected to surpass the 1 million mark since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began measuring them in 1999. And, according to CDC data released last summer, more than 100,000 individuals died from a drug overdose in the United States during the 12-month period ending in April 2021, the most of any year on record.
Public health experts agree on many approaches to reduce harm from addiction and overdose – stigma reduction, treatment expansion, and mental health support. These approaches can be advanced in a number of ways, including through public policy. However, communities of faith have been under-utilized in the public health effort to fight substance use disorders. This virtual series offers an opportunity to explore this topic in-depth and to inspire leaders to action.
The convening is the third in the virtual series “Bridging Faith and Science to Combat the Overdose Crisis,” co-hosted by the Clinton Foundation, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and The Centre for Responsible Leadership.
Sign up to be alerted for updates on this convening, and watch the convening next month at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School website here: https://publichealth.jhu.edu/events/bridging-faith-and-science-to-combat-the-overdose-crisis-series
Details on next month’s event are below.
Bridging Faith and Science to Combat the Overdose Crisis
WHEN:
- Tuesday, February 1, 2022; 1:00 p.m. EST
WHO:
- President Bill Clinton; Founder and Board Chair, Clinton Foundation; 42nd President of the United States
- Patrick J. Kennedy, Former U.S. Representative; Lead Author, Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (Federal Parity Law); Founder, The Kennedy Forum; Co-chair, National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention’s Mental Health & Suicide Prevention National Response to COVID-19, Co-chair; Bipartisan Policy Center’s Behavioral Health Integration Task Force
- Dr. Chinazo Cunningham, Acting Commissioner of the New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports
- Rabbi Arthur Schneier, Senior Rabbi of New York City’s Park East Synagogue, Founder and President, Appeal of Conscience Foundation, and human rights activist
- H.E. Dr. Mohammad Abdulkarim Al-Issa; Chairman of The Centre for Responsible Leadership
- Ellen J. MacKenzie, Ph.D., ScM; Dean, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health
Past faith and science leaders participating in these convenings include Sister Simone Campbell, a Roman Catholic Sister of Social Service, religious leader, attorney, and author with extensive experience in public policy and advocacy for systemic change; Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN Chief Medical Correspondent; Bishop Vashti McKenzie, African Methodist Episcopal Church; Dr. David Satcher, 16th Surgeon General of the United States; Founder and Senior Adviser, Satcher Health Leadership Institute at the Morehouse School of Medicine; Dr. Nora D. Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse at the National Institutes of Health; Dr. Leana Wen, emergency physician, public health professor at George Washington University, and nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.
Upon launch of the series in May 2021, The Centre for Responsible Leadership launched an Addiction and Overdose Action Center with concrete steps that faith and community leaders could take to fight the overdose crisis, informed by expertise from the Clinton Foundation and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. You can visit the Action Center here: https://www.thecrl.org/profiles/addiction-and-overdose-action-center
The Clinton Foundation has worked with groups of religious leaders across different faiths and denominations, in communities across the country, to address the opioid epidemic. These faith leaders, armed with the knowledge, skills, resources, and confidence to effectively address substance use disorders in their local communities, are able to provide critical support for individuals, families, and communities.
In addition to work with faith leaders, the Clinton Foundation has worked for nearly a decade to address the opioid crisis, bringing together experts from across sectors to research, compile, and disseminate the best available science on substance use disorders. A convening with Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in 2017 led to a widely cited white paper, “The Opioid Epidemic: From Evidence to Impact,” that outlines concrete steps to address this crisis. The Foundation also works to distribute the opioid overdose reversal drug naloxone across the country, with more than 500,000 doses deployed to recovery residences, schools and universities, and other community organizations through ongoing partnerships.
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About the Clinton Foundation
Building on a lifetime of public service, President Clinton established the Clinton Foundation on the simple belief that everyone deserves a chance to succeed, everyone has a responsibility to act, and we all do better when we work together. For nearly two decades, those values have energized the work of the Foundation in overcoming complex challenges and improving the lives of people across the United States and around the world.
As an operating foundation, we work on issues directly or with strategic partners from the business, government, and nonprofit sectors to create economic opportunity, improve public health, and inspire civic engagement and service. Our programs are designed to make a real difference today while serving as proven models for tomorrow. The goal of every effort is to use available resources to get better results faster – at the lowest possible cost.
We firmly believe that when diverse groups of people bring resources together in the spirit of true cooperation, transformative ideas will emerge to drive life-changing action.
Learn more at https://www.clintonfoundation.org, on Facebook at Facebook.com/ClintonFoundation, and on Twitter @ClintonFdn.
About the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Founded in 1916 as part of the Johns Hopkins University, the Bloomberg School of Public Health is the world’s oldest and largest independent school of public health. Every day, the Bloomberg School works to keep millions safe from illness and injury by pioneering new research, deploying its knowledge and expertise in the field, and educating tomorrow’s scientists and practitioners in the global defense of human life. You can follow the Bloomberg School’s work on substance abuse disorder here and by subscribing to their newsletter.
About The Centre for Responsible Leadership
The Centre for Responsible Leadership is dedicated to assembling global thought leaders to find sustainable solutions to the major challenges plaguing our world today and drive their rapid adoption. The world needs leadership now, and we must all do our part. Join us – https://www.thecrl.org