Our Mission
- In 2015, 11.8 million Americans aged 12 years and older reported misusing opioids: 11.5 million misused prescription pain relievers and 948,000 used heroin.
- The amount of opioids prescribed in the U.S. in 2015 was enough for every American to be medicated around the clock for three weeks!
- More than 1000 people per day are treated in emergency departments for misusing opioids
- 80% of people who use heroin first misused prescription opioids
- Every 25 minutes a baby is born addicted to opioids in the U.S.
- The CDC estimates that the total “economic burden” of prescription opioid misuse alone in the U.S. is more than $78 billion a year.
At the Preventum Initiative, we recognize that as a community we cannot spend our way out of preventable problems like the opioid epidemic by just providing funding for treatment. Effective evidence-based prevention strategies also need to be provided to the community. At the Preventum Initiative we have developed four key areas of focus that provide both prevention and addiction solutions.
Adult Prevention
Drug overdose is the leading cause of accidental death in the U.S. and opioid addiction is driving this epidemic. The Preventum Initiative is currently researching and developing targeted campaigns for adult opioid use. Deployed on Preventum’s digital public health platform, these campaigns will focus on safe use, diversion, safe storage and safe disposal for acute opioid users.
Adolescent and Youth Prevention
Since 2014, the nonmedical use of prescription-type opioids among youth and adolescents has increase significantly, and so too have teen drug overdose deaths. The CDC reports that in 2015, 65% of drug overdose deaths among 15 to 19-years olds were from prescription painkillers (opioids), and 80% were accidental overdoses. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, close to half of young people who have injected heroin said they had abused prescription painkillers before they started using heroin. The Preventum Initiative is working with Preventum and other partners to develop effective, tailored education campaigns aimed at youth and adolescents.
Prevention for Doctors
Treatment Engagement
Donations are welcome
OPIOID DEATHS – HOW IS YOUR STATE AFFECTED?
THE U.S. MAKES UP 4.3% OF THE WORLD’S POPULATION, YET IT CONSUMES 81% OF THE WORLD SUPPLY OF OXYCODONE (OXYCONTIN)
Families and communities across the US are coping with the health, economic and emotional effects of the opioid epidemic. A donation to the Preventum Initiative funds world-class research to prevent opioid drug overdoses, babies born addicted to opioids, children ending up orphaned or in foster care due to parents addicted to opioids, and teen opioid overdose rates. Your gift will fund research into the prevention of complex health challenges, such as injuries, diabetes, obesity, asthma, COPD, heart disease. Donate now.
OUR TEAM
Jacqueline Burgess
Executive Director
Jacquii has a diverse background that includes qualifications in nursing, marketing, journalism, and public health. After repeatedly treating preventable diseases and injuries as a nurse, she changed her career 15 years ago to focus instead on disease and injury prevention, and health promotion. Jacquii created To Good Health, a health magazine published in Australia and the US, aimed at disseminating the latest evidence-based research in a simplified and succinct format for the general public. She was also the editor-in-chief of Sixty Second Parent Magazine in the US and Australia.Jacquii’s post-graduate degree in public health focused on smoking cessation in teenage girls. In 2017, Jacquii completed her PhD in childhood injury prevention at the University of Queensland, Australia. In part, this research investigated the use of smartphone applications and gamification techniques to engage and educate parents about childhood burn prevention and correct burn first aid. Her primary research has now been adopted by the Australian government and rolled out as a national burns prevention campaign – Cool Runnings – the world’s first large-scale public health information campaign on a mobile device. Jacquii is widely published and has presented her research on injury prevention internationally. Jacquii is passionate about combining technology and communication with evidence-based research to deliver effective public health solutions.
Dr. Olson Huff, MD, DoSc, FAAP
Medical Advisor
Olson Huff is a pediatrician, child advocate, founder of the Olson Huff Center for Child Development and the Founding Medical Director of Mission Children’s Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina.He was instrumental in the development of health care resources, such as the “toothbus”, that provides care for underserved children in rural western North Carolina.
He is a past president of the North Carolina Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and is past chair of the Board of Directors of the North Carolina Partnership for Children as well as the past chair of the Committee on Federal Government Affairs of the AAP.
He is a veteran of the USAF, a graduate of the University of Kentucky ,received his medical degree from the University of Louisville, internship at Wilford Hall USAF Hospital, pediatric residency at Charlotte Memorial Hospital and fellowship in Child Development at UNC at Chapel Hill.
He is an elder in the Presbyterian Church, a jogger and an avid reader of U.S. History.
He and his wife of 53 years, Marylyn, live in Black Mountain, NC, and have three sons and four growing grandchildren.
Dr. Leah Devlin, DDS, MPH
Public Health Advisor
Dr. Devlin has more than 30 years in public health practice in North Carolina including 10 years as the Wake County Health Director and 10 years as the State Health Director for North Carolina. She is a board member of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Centers for Disease Control Foundation, the UNC Board of Visitors, the Gillings School of Global Public Health Advisory Council, Trustee of Campbell University, NC Medical Society Foundation Board, NC Foundation for Advanced Health Programs and other statewide boards. In addition, she serves as a Consultant for Research Triangle Institute, International.