Public health officials recently testified before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee that the opioid crisis is getting worse, not better.

In contrast, the U.S. has enjoyed much success over the past 15 years, on a bipartisan basis, addressing health challenges overseas. Its investments and initiatives have been highly effective in globally reducing child mortality, maternal mortality, malaria, and HIV/AIDS, and its leadership was critical in shutting down Ebola as the disease began to spin out of control in West Africa. Development is a discipline, and when viewing the opioid epidemic through the lens of practitioners involved in these global efforts, the playbook is not a mystery ...

To end the opioid epidemic, bipartisan agreement isn’t enough. Political attention isn’t enough. Good intentions aren’t enough. The lessons we’ve learned are clear:

Well-defined, time-bound and evidence-based goals provide the basis; tested and scalable interventions, combined with key innovations, provide the means; coordinated commitments and contributions from a wide array of stakeholders provide the muscle; and transparent reporting and easily accessible updates provide the measure.

Read the full article about what we can learn from the HIV/AIDS and Ebola epidemics to address opioids by Anthony F. Pipa at Brookings.