WASHINGTON—Broadcasters have been trying to do their part in helping battle the ongoing opioid crisis in the U.S., with NAB announcing that more than $32 million in air-time has been donated by TV and radio stations and broadcast networks for public service announcements on raising awareness and prevention on opioid abuse. This is part of a campaign launched by NAB and the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids.

The PSAs included Partnership-produced messages directing viewers and listeners to life-saving information as well as PSAs produced in conjunction with NAB’s bi-annual Congressional PSA Campaign. From September 2016—when the initiative was launched by a bi-partisan group of senators and members of the House—through December 2017, there have been 253,783 TV and radio airings of the PSAs.

Additional efforts by broadcasters to support raising opioid abuse awareness have included long-form programming and special news reports, including Arizona stations airing a 30-minute commercial-free investigative report, “Hooked Rx: From Prescription to Addiction.” Broadcasters have also helped organize town halls and provide information online.

“We appreciate broadcasters’ generous support of this important initiative and encourage stations to continue to access the online toolkit at NAB.org/addiction for facts and statistics related to the epidemic, as well as programming and community outreach ideas,” said NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith.

WASHINGTON—A coalition of local radio and TV broadcasters has vowed to air awareness campaigns on the rising issue of opioid addiction, according to the National Association of Broadcasters.

The broadcasters will be aided by the NAB and the national nonprofit, the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids, to air public service announcements and long-form documentary news stories on the opioid use crisis as well as producing online toolkits for other broadcasters to use across the country for their own programming and outreach efforts.

“As first informers in times of crisis, broadcasters understand the power of the public airwaves to educate Americans about dangers affecting their lives,” said NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith in a press release. “Today, we are pledging those airwaves and other resources to combating an epidemic that has touched the lives of millions of our citizens.”

In the same press release, NAB noted efforts taken this past year by CBS TV network, ABC-owned TV stations and iHeartMedia as contributing a combined $15 million in Partnership for Drug-Free Kids PSA messaging to their own airways. Similar efforts by NBC, FOX, Univision, Telemundo and hundreds of other local TV and radio stations are also underway.

The multifaceted campaign will begin immediately and run through the end of 2017.

This story originally appeared on TVT's sister publication Radio World.