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Credit: James Gathany/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(ATLANTA) — The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will provide $301 million in funds to states and jurisdictions hoping to help stop drug overdoses and deaths.

In a press release, the agency says the programs that money is going to fund will “yield information crucial to a better understanding of why, and among whom, overdoses and deaths are taking place.” That information will then be used to “enhance prevention and response efforts around the country.”

Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar credits President Trump and his administration for “the first drop in overdose deaths in more than two decades.”

Still, Azar says, “we are still far from declaring victory.”

The $301 million will go to fund work in 47 states, the District of Columbia, two territories, and 16 counties and cities.

Part of the effort involves working to “strengthen prescription drug monitoring programs, [improving] state-local integration, [establishing] links to care and better [supporting] health care providers and health systems.”

The data that comes out of this work will provide “predictive data” that is “essential” to fighting overdose deaths, CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield says.

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