Part of the Population Health Primer Series, Opioids and Population Health: A Primer provides a concise overview of the opioid crisis, leading the reader to explore what’s been done to address this epidemic thusfar and consider what might be done more effectively using a population health approach.

Written from a systems and public health perspective, Opioids and Population Health: A Primer begins with an overview of how drug use and addiction have been perceived and how prevention, intervention, and treatment services have been delivered in the U.S. It then reviews the epidemiology of opioid morbidity and mortality, historical framing of addiction, and addresses the government response to the epidemic. Finally, it explores the public health response to the epidemic and considers how a population health approach may better address the epidemic.