Public Health encourages community participation in fentanyl education campaign

Dare County Department of Health & Human Services.

The Dare County Department of Health and Human Services (DCDHHS) is launching a “Fentanyl Kills” Mass Public Awareness Campaign and is seeking to partner with local businesses, agencies and restaurants that are interested in increasing community awareness around the dangers of fentanyl.

Participating organizations or  businesses can sign up to receive materials and supplies such as posters, stickers, pens and bar napkins that share important messages aimed at educating and preventing deaths from fentanyl. DCDHHS can also provide businesses with dispensers containing lifesaving tools such as Fentanyl test strips and Naloxone, which rapidly reverses the effects of an opioid overdose.

The “Fentanyl Kills” campaign, funded with monies allotted to Dare County through the national opioid settlement last year, will include advertising via radio, social media and other targeted digital marketing that share vital information to the public on the dangers of fentanyl.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services reported last month that 4,041 people lost their lives to overdose in 2021, representing a 22 percent increase over the prior year. Of those deaths, more than 77% likely involved fentanyl. Illicitly manufactured fentanyl is on the drug market in different forms and is commonly mixed with other drugs.

To participate in the “Fentanyl Kills” campaign, please fill out the following form:  https://forms.gle/912eBMFCuRFvgC5t9. For more information about the campaign, contact DCDHHS Health Education and Outreach Manager Roxana Ballinger at 252-475-5619 or roxana.ballinger@darenc.gov.

To sign up to participate, click here.

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