Giving Compass' Take:

• The Center for High Impact Philanthropy shares effective strategies that donors can use to prevent deaths from heroin and painkiller overdoses. 

• What other aspects do effective drug death prevention programs need? How can philanthropy work to prevent drug addiction? 

• Take a look at the heroin and opioid epidemic today.

Philanthropists who want to prevent deaths can fund community harm reduction centers that dispense a lifesaving medication that reverses overdoses, as well as distribute clean syringes to prevent the spread of HIV. This work receives some public support, but training, advocacy, and clean syringe programs are rarely covered by public dollars. Philanthropy can make it easier for such centers to operate in areas where they are needed.

Community harm reduction centers prevent fatal overdose and the spread of HIV through overdose prevention kits, training, and the provision of clean syringes. In 2013 alone, nearly 25,000 people died of an opioid overdose, a 400% increase in fatal overdose rates in just over a decade. And as the rate of injection drug use rises, so does the risk of HIV transmission

The good news is that we know how to help. A medication called naloxone reverses opioid overdoses, and clean syringes prevent the spread of HIV and other blood-borne infections without increasing drug use.

Communities implementing naloxone distribution programs have seen a 70% decline in overdose deaths. Today, 8% of U.S. HIV infections were from unsafe injections, down from 30% in the late 1980s thanks to clean syringe programs.

Support an existing program: The cost of naloxone kits has risen sharply over the last year as demand has increased, and many centers are unable to afford adequate supply to meet the need in their communities. Less than a dollar will buy a clean syringe that prevents the spread of HIV and other infections, and those dollars have a threefold return over time: an expert panel estimates that every dollar spent on clean syringe programs saves three dollars in averted HIV treatment costs.

Read the full article about preventing deaths from overdoses at The Center for High Impact Philanthropy.