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Roanoke County proclaims Aug. 31 International Overdose Awareness Day, cites 2024 VDH overdose data
Summary
The Board adopted a proclamation recognizing Aug. 31 as International Overdose Awareness Day, highlighting 1,548 Virginia overdose deaths in 2024 and urging stigma reduction and access to treatment; Bailey Maderos of the Roanoke Valley Collective Response accepted the proclamation.
Roanoke County’s Board of Supervisors on Aug. 18 adopted a proclamation recognizing Aug. 31, 2026 as International Overdose Awareness Day and urged residents to remember those lost and strengthen pathways to prevention and recovery.
Bailey Maderos, director of the Roanoke Valley Collective Response (RVCR), attended the meeting and was thanked by supervisors for regional coordination. The proclamation cites Virginia Department of Health reporting of 1,548 drug overdose deaths among Virginia residents in 2024 and notes that more than two-thirds involved fentanyl or other synthetic opioids.
A board member praised Maderos’ work and the regional response, saying the decline in local overdose rates reflects coordinated prevention and treatment efforts. “We are so appreciative. Overdose rates are down in our region and it’s because of recognitions like this,” Maderos said.
The proclamation encourages training, timely access to care, overdose reversal awareness, and reduced stigma; it was moved, seconded and approved by unanimous roll call.
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