The U.S. said it is hosting a senior-level Chinese delegation to witness its drug prevention and treatment efforts, even as the United States continues to battle opioid abuse that is killing more than 60,000 people annually.
The State Department said Tuesday the Chinese will visit drug abuse prevention programs in Washington and New York and highlight the role that U.S. agencies, private treatment centers and non-government community coalitions play in fighting drug abuse in the U.S.
An average of more than 160 people are dying every day in the U.S. from opioid abuse. But the State Department said the U.S.-Chinese effort to reduce the demand for illicit drugs adds to the two countries’ “recent productive cooperation” by imposing restrictive controls on synthetic opioids.
The State Department said it is aiming to cut drug abuse, “as addiction knows no national borders, and illicit drug use anywhere enriches transnational criminal drug traffickers.”
Last October, U.S. President Donald Trump declared opioid abuse a “national public health emergency.”
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