Indivior Lends Voice to Help Raise Awareness of Substance Use Disorder During Mental Health Awareness Month and National Fentanyl Awareness Day

RICHMOND, Va., May 10, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- May is Mental Health Awareness Month, a time to increase awareness of the importance of mental health and to break the stigma associated with mental illness. In addition, May 10^th marks the first National Fentanyl Awareness Day to raise awareness about the growing fentanyl public health crisis.

These observances draw special attention to people struggling with substance use disorders (SUD) and mental illness and highlight the importance of helping people access the treatment and support services they need. Substance Use Disorder (SUD) is a disease reaching epidemic proportions and affects a person's brain and behavior, leading to their inability to control their use of substances such as legal or illegal drugs, alcohol, or medications.¹ In addition, some people with SUD have co-occuring mental illnesses.²  

"The opportunity for stakeholders to come together and make a sustained difference for patients has never been more urgent as we are in the midst of a growing and unprecedented fentanyl overdose epidemic.³ The drug epidemic has claimed over 102,000 lives in the most recent 12-month period, with almost three quarters of these deaths (80,000) resulting from illicit opioids like fentanyl." ⁴ said Mark Crossley, Chief Executive Officer, Indivior. "Our overarching policy response to the opioid epidemic should seek to normalize treatment and categorize addiction like any other chronic medical condition. Only then can we transform access to treatment, resource it, and deliver it to the people who need it most."

Despite the significant progress of the last two decades in defining addiction as a disease, advancing our understanding of how the disease affects the brain and furthering the development of evidence-based treatments, only 20 percent of people with opioid use disorder are being treated for it.⁵ People in urgent need of help are often unaware of their treatment options, have limited access to treatment and counseling, or simply do not seek it out because they are afraid of being stigmatized.⁶ Lack of access to treatment continues to drive the treatment gap, especially among under-served and marginalized communities.⁷

To help raise awareness of SUD and the need for better treatment access, Mark Crossley, Chief Executive Officer, Indivior will present at the Financial Times' US Pharma and Biotech Summit on May 11, 2022 and at The Hill's event on The Opioid Crisis and the Criminal Justice System on May 18, 2022.

About Opioid Use Disorder (OUD)  

Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) is a chronic disease in which people develop a pattern of using opioids that can lead to negative consequences. OUD may affect the parts of the brain that are necessary for life-sustaining functions.⁸

About Indivior 
Indivior is a global pharmaceutical company working to help change patients' lives by developing medicines to treat substance use disorders (SUD) and serious mental illnesses. Our vision is that all patients around the world will have access to evidence-based treatment for the chronic conditions and co-occurring disorders of SUD. Indivior is dedicated to transforming SUD from a global human crisis to a recognized and treated chronic disease. Building on its global portfolio of OUD treatments, Indivior has a pipeline of product candidates designed to both expand on its heritage in this category and potentially address other chronic conditions and co-occurring disorders of SUD, including alcohol use disorder and cannabis use disorder. Headquartered in the United States in Richmond, VA, Indivior employs more than 900 individuals globally and its portfolio of products is available in over 40 countries worldwide. Visit www.indivior.com to learn more. Connect with Indivior on LinkedIn by visiting www.linkedin.com/company/indivior. 

References:

1. Substance Use and Co-Occurring Mental Disorders. (n.d.). National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/substance-use-and-mental-health#:%7E:text=A%20substance%20use%20disorder%20(SUD,drugs%2C%20alcohol%2C%20or%20medications
2. The Connection Between Substance Use Disorders and Mental Illness. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Part 1. Part 1: The Connection Between Substance Use Disorders and Mental Illness | National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) (nih.gov)
3. National Drug Control Strategy 2022.  https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/National-Drug-Control-2022Strategy.pdf.  Accessed April 26, 2022
4. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/drug-overdose-data.htm, Accessed on April 2022
5. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of the Surgeon General. Facing Addiction in America: The Surgeon General's Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health. Washington, DC: HHS, November 2016.
6. White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), National Treatment Plan for Substance Use Disorder, https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/2020-NDCS-Treatment-Plan.pdf, January 2020.
7. NIDA. 2021, August 31. Drug overdose deaths in 2020 were horrifying. Radical change is needed to address the drug crisis.. Retrieved from https://www.drugabuse.gov/about-nida/noras-blog/2021/08/drug-overdose-deaths-in-2020-were-horrifying-radical-change-needed-to-address-drug-crisis on 2021, September 1
8. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health. Drugs, Brains, and Behavior: The Science of Addiction. HHS Publication No. (SMA) 18-5063PT5, Printed 2018.

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