HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — The Guam Behavioral Health and Wellness Center was awarded the Strategic Prevention Framework for Prescription Drugs, or SPF-Rx, grant, the agency announced in a press release. GBHWC will get $2.5 million in funding, from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, to address prescription medication misuse in the country through a strategic prevention framework, GBHWC said in the release.
The SPF-Rx grant will fund Project PATH, which stands for Preventing Addiction through Health Empowerment, a program to reduce opioid and illicit drug use disorder, overdose and deaths among Guam’s island community. Project PATH will also lead the communitywide education on opioid misuse prevention and use of opioid antagonists such as naloxone, as required by P.L.s 37-2 and 37-27.
Prescription medication includes opioids, drugs usually used for their pain-relieving effects that potentially can be addicting if misused.
In Guam, 15.5% of Guam Department of Education high school students reported taking a prescription drug without a doctor’s prescription. This rate continues to increase since it was first reported in 2017 at 10.9%.
Among adults, less than 2% reported taking prescription drugs that were not prescribed to them, and 7.4% believed there was no risk in using prescription drugs improperly. However, 10.2% of adults self-reported illicit drug use and 3.6% of them said they started before the age of 18.
GBHWC’s Project PATH is funded by the SPF-Rx grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, or SAMHSA, now through Sept. 30, 2027. Informed by epidemiological data, the GBHWC program will focus its efforts partnering with medical and pharmaceutical professionals and educators in Guam to improve the community’s understanding and practice toward prescription drug use, according to the agency.
“We here at GBHWC are eager to explore and tackle the impact of the opioid epidemic on Guam and expand our services for our people,” said GBHWC Director Theresa Arriola. “As we are witnessing in the U.S., the opioid epidemic is a multifaceted issue. Although we do not see much of it in our treatment centers here on island, there are potential connections to issues we currently face, for example, with methamphetamine or suicide. We are looking forward to leveraging the SPF-Rx grant so that we can offer monitoring measures and interventions that are effective in addressing and preventing opioid misuse.”
In addition to its prevention efforts, Project PATH also will fulfill GBHWC’s role in community education efforts and increasing access to opioid antagonists, as required in P.L. 37-27, the Opioid Prevention and Treatment Act, and P.L. 37-2, the Guam Opioid Overdose Prevention Act of 2023. Information and training on naloxone administration to potential bystanders and publicly accessible emergency opioid antagonist locations will be announced in the coming weeks.
For more information, contact GBHWC’s Project PATH at rx.marketing@peaceguam.org or 671-477-9083.
The Guam Behavioral Health and Wellness Center is seen July 6, 2023, in Tamuning.
