DrugMap is a free, online service that delivers real-time information about opioid use in the U.S.
Project Overview
DrugMap is a free, online platform developed by HealthMap, the Computational Epidemiology team at Boston Children’s Hospital. DrugMap allows the user to view the geographic distribution of news reports about opioids at the state and county levels.
DrugMap contains a multi-stream system of news archives, drawing from CDC data and news alerts to deliver real-time information and intelligence. Users can view drug activity by location and filter by time frame, categories and key words.
By making this information accessible to the public, DrugMap aims to raise awareness about the opioid epidemic in order to generate public and political action.
Healthcare Context
The increase in misuse of and addiction to opioids in the United States has led to an opioid epidemic. This epidemic poses a serious risk to not only public health, but also the social and economic wellbeing of the nation. The CDC estimates that misuse of prescription opioids alone creates an “economic burden” of $78.5 billion a year including the cost of healthcare, addiction treatment, loss of productivity and criminal justice interventions.1
Interested in learning more about DrugMap?
Send IDHA an email at accelerator@childrens.harvard.edu
References
- Opioid Overdose Crisis | National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). (n.d.). Retrieved March 23, 2020, from https://www.drugabuse.gov/drugs-abuse/opioids/opioid-overdose-crisis#two