Intervention from the largest-ever addiction prevention and treatment program produced a 15% reduction in non-fatal opioid overdoses, but no difference in the number of overdose deaths, according to a report published by the New England Journal of Medicine and detailed at the John W. Olver Transit Center on Wednesday. The program was conducted across four states, including Massachusetts.

Wednesday’s event was part of an educational series organized by the Opioid Task Force of Franklin County and the North Quabbin Region to share lessons learned from the 18-month participation in the study from July 1, 2022, to Dec. 31, 2023.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the HEALing Communities Study successfully engaged communities to select and implement hundreds of evidence-based strategies over the course of the intervention, demonstrating how leveraging community partnerships and using data to inform public health decisions can effectively support the uptake of evidence-based strategies at the local level.

“This study brought researchers, providers and communities together to break down barriers and promote the use of evidence-based strategies that we know are effective, including medications for opioid use disorder and naloxone,” said Dr. Nora D. Volkow, NIDA’s director. “Yet, particularly in the era of fentanyl and its increased mixture with psychostimulant drugs, it’s clear we need to continue developing new tools and approaches for addressing the overdose crisis. Ongoing analyses of the rich data from this study will be critical to guiding our efforts in the future.”

Dr. Jeffrey Samet, a Boston University public health professor who led the HEALing Communities Study in Massachusetts, and Carly Bridden, a clinical research director at Boston Medical Center, were welcomed by the Opioid Task Force to explain the conclusions of a randomized controlled trial launched in April 2019.

The HEALing Communities Study took place in 67 communities in Massachusetts, New York, Kentucky and Ohio. Massachusetts had 16 communities participating in the study. In Franklin County, Greenfield, Montague and Orange were combined into one community with Athol in Worcester County.

The study’s primary objective was to compare the number of opioid overdose deaths in adults in intervention and control groups between July 2021 and June 2022. The study was launched by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Communities were randomly assigned to either receive the intervention or control group.

The intervention resulted in a 79% increase in the availability of naloxone, which can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. According to the trial’s conclusions, medications prescribed for opioid use disorder did not increase, though there was a decline in the stigma behind them.

Rachel Katz, a nurse practitioner and addiction clinician, said Franklin County’s figures often seem lower than other locales but are better put into perspective when viewed at a per-capita rate.

“The drug supply in Springfield is the drug supply in Greenfield,” she said, explaining that the narcotics are trafficked up the Interstate 91 corridor.

There are at least 100,000 overdose deaths in the United States every year, with more than 75% involving an opioid.

More information about the HEALing Communities Study, including the Massachusetts-specific study, is available at tinyurl.com/39a6m5xm.

Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-930-4120.