Only 1 in 10 pregnant Alaskans who needed substance-use treatment in 2022 got it

Of the 937 pregnant Alaskans who needed treatment for substance use in 2022, only about 1 in 10 received it, according to state health data. Alaska is now seeking to fund programs to help close that gap.

The need is sharpest in rural Alaska. In the Southwest and Northern regions, pregnancy-associated deaths run about three times the rate in the rest of the state, and the health department wants at least one of the funded programs to serve those regions specifically.

Substance use is part of that toll: of the 66 pregnancy-associated deaths in Alaska from 2019 through 2023, drug overdose was the cause in 17. The state's goal is to bring the rate down substantially in the years ahead.

The Division of Public Health is seeking proposals for its Access to Perinatal Health Support program, funded by a federal substance-use block grant, with the work set to begin in November.