ANNVILLE — The Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs recently launched a multi-faceted media campaign to make veterans with a substance use disorder, and their loved ones, aware that help is available.

The campaign is in support of the Wolf Administration’s statewide Opioid Command Center and Get Help Now initiatives to get help for residents suffering from the disease of opioid-use disorder. Pennsylvanians can also obtain the overdose-reversal medication naloxone for free.

“Governor Tom Wolf continues to aggressively lead this battle against the opioid and heroin epidemic throughout the commonwealth, and we recognize that many of Pennsylvania’s veterans are not immune to opioid, heroin, and other addictions due to the extreme stresses of military service,” said Maj. Gen. Tony Carrelli, Pennsylvania’s adjutant general and head of the DMVA. “It is important for veterans and their families to know that there is specific help for veterans here in Pennsylvania. Assistance and a path to recovery starts with a phone call to the commonwealth’s substance use disorder hotline.”

The 24/7 substance use disorder hotline connects veterans with a qualified treatment provider in order for them to begin their journey to recovery. The call is confidential and there are treatment options for the insured, underinsured, or uninsured. Since November 2016, hotline professionals have provided guidance to more than 43,000 individuals who have called the 1-800-Get-Help-Now hotline.

Paid for with a federal grant, the DMVA campaign includes television, radio, transit and digital ads featuring veterans in different scenarios who are dealing with substance use disorder. The primary message of the campaign, which will run into 2020, is Recovery Starts With A Call, 1-800-662-HELP (4357). Family members and advocates who know a veteran suffering from addiction are also encouraged to call the toll-free hotline.