Using a Healthy People 2030 Objective to Advance Children’s Medication Safety

Reducing emergency department (ED) visits for medication overdoses among children under 5 years of age is a national public health priority. The Healthy People 2030 objective tracks this important issue through its PROTECT Initiative.

The PRevention of Overdoses and Treatment Errors in Children Taskforce (PROTECT ) Initiative is a CDC-led public-private partnership that uses a collaborative, data-driven approach to reduce harm from unintentional medication overdoses in children. The target rate to be achieved by the end of the decade is a 35 percent reduction of ED visits for children under 5 years of age for medication overdoses. Read more from HHS here.