Agenda Comparison Grid and Fact Sheet

Running head: DISCUSSION POST PRESIDENTIAL AGENDAS 2

DISCUSSION POST PRESIDENTIAL AGENDAS 2

Discussion Post Presidential Agendas

Student’s Full Name

Institutional Affiliation

Course Full Name

Instructor’s Full Name

Date

The major agendas during the presidential campaigns have majorly focused on population health. One of the major health topics for the presidential campaign has been the opioid epidemic. The issue of the opioid epidemic has caused a great impact on the health of Americans for a long and recently in 2019, about 50,000 people died from opioids as a result of overdoses in 2019 (Knopf, 2020). The misuse and the addiction of this drug is increased by the prescription practices for the reduction of pain among patients and synthetic opioids.

The declaration of the opioid as a national public health emergency was made by Trump in 2017. Nevertheless, beyond this announcement, nothing was done to help in addressing this epidemic. The Office of the National Drug Control Policy was not fulfilled and even the White House never moved to allocate funds required to bring some differences (American Oversight, 2020). The current President is planning to end the opioid crisis by planning to make sure that there is access to high-quality healthcare services. These quality services include substance use disorder treatment and mental healthcare services (Knopf, 2020).

How to handle the situation based on personal perception

Efforts are being made by the current President to address the issue of the opioid crisis even though the previous president made little effort to address it. Even though President Obama designated the substance use disorder treatment and mental health services as part of the essential benefits that should be considered by the insurer; there is still a need for further efforts (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2017)). It is also crucial to promote the understanding of the members of the public about the epidemic by adopting public health surveillance, offering support for the cutting-edge research on pain and addiction, and the advancement of the practices used in pain management.

References

American Oversight. (2020, July 31). The Trump Administration's Response to The Opioid Epidemic. https://www.americanoversight.org/investigation/trump-administrations-response-opioid-epidemic Knopf, A. (2020). As new administration forms, questions remain about SAMHSA and ONDCP. Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly, 32(47), 1-5.

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2017). Pain management and the opioid epidemic: balancing societal and individual benefits and risks of prescription opioid use.