The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has launched a new centralized resource for overdose information as the latest federal estimates show a continued decline in drug overdose deaths.
The CDC Overdose Prevention Data Channel brings fatal and nonfatal overdose data, prevention strategies, and information about CDC programs together in one place. The launch coincides with International Overdose Awareness Day.
The latest monthly provisional data from the CDC’s National Vital Statistics System predicts 67,798 drug overdose deaths in the United States for the 12 months ending in March 2026. That is a 12.3% decrease from the same period a year earlier. The CDC said the national decline represents progress, while noting that too many people continue to die from drug overdoses.
The new channel is designed to help communities use timely information to understand changing overdose trends and guide prevention efforts. Visitors can explore national and state-level trends, find evidence-based prevention strategies and connect with CDC programs, tools and dashboards focused on prevention and response.
“CDC wants to ensure maximum transparency to empower patients, providers and other stakeholders as we continue our battle against the opioid epidemic,” said CDC Director Dr. Erica Schwartz. “Data modernization is critical to that effort.”
The channel brings together information from three CDC surveillance systems: the State Unintentional Drug Overdose Reporting System, the Drug Overdose Surveillance and Epidemiology system, and the National Vital Statistics System. The information is presented through user-friendly visualizations.
Grant Baldwin, PhD, MPH, director of the CDC’s Division of Overdose Prevention in the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, said the data are intended to help communities move from understanding past trends to planning prevention efforts.
“The most useful data does more than show us what has happened; it helps us decide what to do next,” said Grant Baldwin, PhD, MPH, Director of CDC’s Division of Overdose Prevention in the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. “The continued decline in predicted overdose deaths is encouraging, but progress is not a finish line. The Overdose Prevention Data Channel gives communities and public health professionals a clearer view of fatal and nonfatal overdose trends, along with evidence-based strategies they can use to tailor resources, strengthen prevention efforts, and save lives.”
The new resource is part of the CDC’s broader Data Modernization efforts, which aim to strengthen the nation’s public health data infrastructure. Its user-centered design is intended to make high-value data easier to access and use as public health professionals monitor changing overdose patterns, identify emerging threats, coordinate prevention efforts, and make data-informed decisions.
The channel was developed through a partnership among the CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Division of Overdose Prevention; Office of Public Health Data, Surveillance, and Technology; and National Center for Health Statistics.
