The grant is a part of the “Prescription Drug Overdose: Prevention for States” program.

The participating states will be monitored and evaluated, as “results and project successes will determine the impact of this program and inform future state and national efforts in preventing prescription drug overdoses”, the CDC says on its Prevention for States webpage.

California has been awarded $3.7 million from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to reduce opioid overdoses over the next four years.

Heroin and opioid overdose are the leading cause of accidental death in Pennsylvania.

Opioid pain relievers, such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, and methadone, contributed to 45 percent of the 843 drug overdose deaths in 2013, while heroin contributed to 27 percent.

“The Department of Health is pleased to receive this grant from the CDC”, said Murphy.

Jeff Sheridan, spokesman for Gov. Tom Wolf, called the overdoses “a critical public health crisis”.

The money will feed into the state’s existing Prescription Drug Monitoring Program and related community-based interventions. The PDMP data will also be used to conduct public health surveillance, the information from which will be publicly disseminated. There will also be an evaluation of long-standing drug laws and policies that are created to work with the best regulations in the state, Sheridan said.

Drug overdose deaths in Wisconsin doubled from 2004 to 2013.

“The (fiscal) 2016 budget includes funding that would expand the program to all 50 states and Washington, D.C.”, the spokeswoman said.