Just as President Donald Trump announced that he had created a Coronavirus task force to combat the recent break out of that deadly disease in China, the administration submitted statements after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released their 2018 mortality statistics that showed a decrease in drug overdose deaths.
“This sign of progress is an example of what can happen when an Administration prioritizes an issue, makes the necessary investments, and deploys a whole-of-government approach to accomplishing our ultimate goal of saving lives. While there are still far too many Americans dying from drug overdoses, today’s historic news means fewer parents burying their children, fewer friends mourning the loss of their loved ones, and fewer communities hurting – and that is an incredible thing,” Office of National Drug Control Policy Director Jim Carroll said.
President Trump’s senior advisor, Kellyanne Conway, pointed to the efforts the president, the First Lady, and the administration, have made to bring the drug overdose death rate down.
“Those suffering from addiction were ignored, indeed forgotten, for decades. In 2018, there were 4.1% fewer deaths in America from drug overdoses than in 2017,” said Conway “President Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, and the entire Trump Administration have brought an unprecedented level of leadership to combating this crisis, and for the first time in nearly 30 years, drug overdose deaths have declined in America.”
The drug overdose epidemic continues rage on, but it looks as if the overall effort to save lives has made significant progress.
