Treatment Works

AUDIO – SO DOES AA –

June 25, 2024 – APA has helped “move the needle” in a positive direction on addiction, bringing together primary and specialty care professionals interested in addressing substance use disorders (SUDs) in the populations they treat and communicating to millions that treatment for addiction works.

That’s what outgoing APA President Petros Levounis, M.D., M.A., said during the Opening Session of APA’s 2024 Annual Meeting, recounting his presidential theme, “Confronting Addiction From Prevention to Recovery.” The yearlong effort was a public education and advocacy campaign aimed at addressing four topics on addiction: tobacco and vaping, opioids, alcohol, and technological addictions. Numerous informational resources were created.

“I was inspired to create this year’s theme drawing on my own professional experience, as well as the knowledge, passion, and expertise of our membership to address the burden that substance use disorders and the behavioral addictions have on our patients and, more broadly, on society,” Levounis said. “We undertook this initiative because we are in a unique moment where we have incredible science, research, and tools that can help in the treatment of SUDs. Some of these, like naloxone and buprenorphine, can mean the difference between life and death for someone who lives with opioid use disorder.”