WASHINGTON — Overdose deaths in the United States fell 16.9% from July 2023 to July 2024, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Wednesday. It is the largest reduction in recorded overdose deaths in the country’s history, according to White House Domestic Policy Council Director Neera Tanden.

What You Need To Know

  • Overdose deaths in the United States decreased 17% from July 2023 to July 2024, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday

  • Health officials credited the wide availability of naloxone for the decrease

  • They also said overdose treatment is more available

  • More fentanyl is being seized at the U.S. border with Mexico

“This is no coincidence,” Tanden said during a media briefing about the overdose declines. “Efforts taken, investments made and policies put in place for this administration are having a positive and real impact.”

In the year ending July 2024, about 90,000 people died of overdose deaths involving opioids, according to the CDC.

White House Office of National Drug Control Policy Director Dr. Rahul Gupta cited three main reasons for the decline. He said the drug overdose treatment naloxone is more widely available following the Food and Drug Administration’s decision to sell the drug over the counter. 

The number of medical providers who can prescribe medications for opioid use disorder has also increased, and the U.S. is devoting more resources to stopping the flow of fentanyl by making its production and trafficking more costly, difficult and time consuming. 

Following President Joe Biden’s executive order to disrupt the supply of illicit fentanyl earlier this year, more than 300 individuals and entities in drug production and trafficking have been cut off from the U.S. financial system, Gupta said. He said the U.S. is working with China to stop the production of precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl.