Levounis to Emphasize Engagement With Public in Presidential Year Focused on Addiction Treatment
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At the Opening Session of APA’s Annual Meeting, incoming APA President Petros Levounis, M.D., M.A., unveiled the key elements of his presidential year, which will focus on the theme “Confronting Addiction: From Prevention to Recovery.” They include public engagement; outreach and education; and collaboration with other medical specialties, the government, and patient groups.
“Substance use, particularly opioids, has become a generational crisis in our country and one where, until recently, we have seen very little in the way of good news,” Levounis said. “An increase of 0.6% in overdose deaths in the U.S. was predicted by the National Center for Health Statistics between November 2021 and November 2022. Most likely due to our efforts and those of other physicians, psychologists, social workers, counselors, patient groups, and others too numerous to mention, our April 2023 analysis revealed a 2.8% decrease in reported overdose deaths instead. Is the tide finally turning? Perhaps, but there is so much more to be done.”
Levounis said he has established a presidential work group to be led by Smita Das, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., chair of the APA Council on Addiction Psychiatry, that will assist in the development, review, and promotion of content for quarterly public education campaigns centered around four topics: vaping, opioids, alcohol, and technology.
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