Although generations of Americans have struggled with opioid addiction, what was once seen as a peripheral drug problem has lately hit the American public with force. Opioid overdoses have become so common that they are the number one cause of injury-related deaths in the United States, according to CDC reports. In 2015 alone opioids were involved in 33,091 deaths, according to the agency. The nation has also seen a rise in fentanyl, a particularly potent opioid.

The US government has begun to take notice. In the fall President Donald Trump declared the epidemic a “National Public Health Emergency.” The announcement brought the epidemic to the forefront, however, it only meant $57,000 in new funding towards solving the crisis.

But the government and innovators at large could be looking to digital health technologies as a promising approach to addressing the crisis.

Continue reading at: http://www.mobihealthnews.com/content/depth-how-digital-health-technologies-can-help-united-states-address-opioid-epidemic