美国国家公共电台 NPR--The White House unveils a new system to track and better prevent opioid overdoses

The White House unveils a new system to track and better prevent opioid overdoses

Transcript¹

For decades, the U.S. struggled to create a national system for tracking opioid overdoses.

Critics including Rep. David Trone (D-Md.) say the lack of accurate, real-time data has made it harder for health officials to respond as black market pain pills, heroin² and illicit³ fentanyl flooded communities.

"It is absolutely a monstrous⁴ failure of government," Trone said in an interview with NPR. "The excuses are unending."

Thursday morning, the Biden administration moved to close the data gap, unveiling a new website that will track non-fatal opioid overdoses.

The site will be updated every two weeks with reports collected at the county level by EMS first responders in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Many deaths could have been prevented with better information

Officials say the information will help shape the medical response when overdose clusters occur in different parts of the country.

That could include quickly distributing naloxone, a medication that reverses opioid overdoses, in communities facing a rise in overdose incidents.

"We could see tens of thousands of additional lives saved," said Dr. Rahul Gupta, head of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, during a call with reporters on Wednesday.

According to Gupta, the website will "provide first responders, clinicians and policy-makers with real-time, actionable information that will improve our responses."

This comes as the overdose crisis hit a deadly new record last year, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reporting 107,622 drug deaths.

Gupta said many of those deaths could have been prevented with better information and better, more targeted addiction⁵ treatment.

"It's a big step and an important first step"

Data on the new website will be managed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which collects EMS data.

Officials acknowledge this data collection and reporting system will provide a limited snapshot of drug overdoses.

It focuses entirely⁶ on opioids — the leading cause of drug deaths — while excluding cocaine⁷, methamphetamines and other substances.

The website also won't include information from hospitals, schools, businesses non-profits and academic programs that collect non-fatal overdose information.

"This does not include every part of all the overdoses that occur," Gupta said. "This is the beginning of a system build-out."

He said the data collection system would improve over time. Despite its limitations, some addiction experts praised the new program.

"I think it's a big step and an important first step," says Erin Artigiani with the Center for Substance Abuse Research at the University of Maryland.

"I think it's crucial to have complete and relatively⁸ real-time data. That's something researchers and policy-makers alike have been talking about for some time."

The stakes for this initiative are high. A study released this year by the medical journal the Lancet predicted the U.S. will see another 1.2 million opioid overdose deaths by the end of this decade.

The hope is with better, faster information, many of those lives can be saved.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 heroin   

n.海洛因

参考例句：

• Customs have made their biggest ever seizure of heroin.海关查获了有史以来最大的一批海洛因。
• Heroin has been smuggled out by sea.海洛因已从海上偷运出境。

3 illicit   

adj.非法的，禁止的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He had an illicit association with Jane.他和简曾有过不正当关系。
• Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year.今年违禁药品的扣押增长了30%。

4 monstrous   

adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的

参考例句：

• The smoke began to whirl and grew into a monstrous column.浓烟开始盘旋上升，形成了一个巨大的烟柱。
• Your behaviour in class is monstrous!你在课堂上的行为真是丢人！

5 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

6 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

7 cocaine   

n.可卡因，古柯碱（用作局部麻醉剂）

参考例句：

• That young man is a cocaine addict.那个年轻人吸食可卡因成瘾。
• Don't have cocaine abusively.不可滥服古柯碱。

8 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。