COLUMBUS, Ohio (WKBN) – Ohio is launching a new way to track overdose deaths in Ohio.

A new online dashboard was launched to better track and report data on overdose deaths and other substance-use-related measures in all of Ohio’s 88 counties.

The dashboard is a combination of research and creation through the National Institutes of Health-funded HEALing Communities Study, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center College of Medicine and Recovery Ohio.

The dashboard was tested in 18 counties and through that success, the program was launched in all 88 counties.

“Expanding the HEALing Communities Study dashboards to all 88 Ohio counties provides invaluable data that will allow local organizations and communities to better plan for their needs as they battle this public health crisis in our state – and ultimately save lives,” said Governor DeWine.

The dashboard shows right now that there were 147 overdose deaths in Mahoning County in 2021; 120 in Trumbull County; and 49 in Columbiana County. Numbers for 2022 have not been published yet.

A total of 5,017 people in Ohio died from unintentional drug overdoses in 2020, which was a 25% increase over the previous year, according to the Ohio Department of Health.