County by county estimation of deaths averted, infections averted, and cost savings of overdose prevention health centers in the United States

Overdose prevention health centers (OPHCs), also known as overdose prevention centers or safe injection centers, are an evidence-based strategy for people to use drugs in an environment monitored by health care professionals with access to drug use education, sterile supplies, and referral infrastructure to access higher levels of medical and behavioral health resources. Though still illegal under federal law throughout the United States, many legal or quasi-legal (including some in the United States) have operated since the 1980s (Beletsky, Baker et al. 2018). Using CDC overdose deaths and United States Census Bureau population data, we estimate over 14,000 deaths could be averted between 2020 and 2022 if 1 out of 20 injections had taken place at an OPHC. At this rate, over 100 HIV transmissions and 57,000 Hepatitis C Virus transmissions would have been averted as well. Almost 20 billion dollars in discounted lifetime costs to treat those infections could have been saved as well. This data supports OPHCs as a viable public health intervention to avert deaths and avoid infections.