Ministers and Secretaries of Health and Senior officials from Canada, Mexico, and the United States met on June 6 and 7, 2023, in Washington, D.C. at the White House for the North American Drug Dialogue (NADD) Public Health Summit. Synthetic drugs, such as illicit fentanyl, are having devastating health and economic consequences in our societies. At this summit, the three countries coordinated a trilateral approach to the negative health impact of illicit synthetic drugs use throughout North America. Established at the 2016 North American Leaders Summit, the NADD is the principal forum through which the three countries address drug threats facing North America.
The Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, Dr. Rahul Gupta, provided opening remarks for the Summit, followed by an overview of the synthetic drug crisis from Canada's Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, Dr. Carolyn Bennett; Mexico's Secretary of Health Dr. Jorge Carlos Alcocer Varela, and the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Dr. Xavier Becerra. During the two days, a panel of experts discussed preventing and reducing opioid-related overdose deaths, reducing barriers to treatment for substance use disorder, and the use of data to inform effective public health responses.
For the following year, the three countries agreed to prioritize work in two areas:
