AAOA Welcomes the National Hispanic Medical Association as 20th Partner

ARLINGTON, Va., June 2, 2020 – Allied Against Opioid Abuse (AAOA) announced today the addition of the National Hispanic Medical Association (NHMA) as a new partner. As an organization committed to improving the health of Hispanic and other underserved populations, NHMA becomes AAOA’s 20^th national partner to help raise awareness of the rights, risks and responsibilities associated with prescription opioids.

“The Hispanic community is one of the fast-growing populations affected by the prescription opioid epidemic, with a significant knowledge gap related to the safe use, storage and disposal of these products,” said Dr. Elena Rios, President of NHMA. “We look forward to working with AAOA and its national partners to create additional resources that will help our physicians educate their patients and better inform the Hispanic community.”

As part of this partnership, AAOA and NHMA will work together to create new resources to help educate Spanish-speaking audiences about prescription opioid safety. The toolkit will be developed by an advisory committee of NHMA members and be available in both Spanish and English later this year.

“AAOA is committed to supporting a range of individuals and organizations to ensure they are aware of their rights, risks and responsibilities related to prescription opioids,” said John Parker, Senior Vice President of Communications for the Healthcare Distribution Alliance, the founding member of AAOA. “We are pleased to welcome NHMA as our newest partner and look forward to developing new educational tools and resources to help prevent further instances of prescription opioid abuse and misuse, and ultimately save lives.”

Since its launch in February 2018, AAOA and its national partners have created a full suite of resources to educate patients, caregivers, consumers and the medical community about the safe use, storage and disposal of prescription opioids, including:

• AAOA-HealthyWomen Toolkit
• AAOA-NCL Consumer Toolkit
• Series of patient education videos created in collaboration with providers at The Johns Hopkins Hospital and the Cleveland Clinic
• AAOA Pharmacy Toolkit
• Pledge to Pause

To learn more about these and other AAOA resources, visit our online library.

About Allied Against Opioid Abuse
Allied Against Opioid Abuse is a national education and awareness initiative to help prevent abuse and misuse of prescription opioids. Founded by the Healthcare Distribution Alliance, the initiative is a collaborative effort with diverse partners across the pharmaceutical supply chain, as well as organizations that are experts in public health and healthcare, including ADvancing States, Alliance for Aging Research, American Pharmacists Association, American Physical Therapy Association, BeMedWise, Caregiver Action Network, Gerontological Society of America, Healthcare Leadership Council, HealthyWomen, Men’s Health Network, Mental Health America, National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations, National Association of Directors of Nursing Administration, National Association of States United for Aging and Disabilities, National Community Pharmacists Association, National Consumers League, National Hispanic Medical Association, National Transitions of Care Coalition, Pharmacy Technician Certification Board, and the PA Foundation. Our goal is to contribute to solving the opioid crisis in a meaningful way by educating patients about their rights, risks and responsibilities. To learn more, visit www.AgainstOpioidAbuse.org or follow us on Twitter: @AAOA_Tweets.