Coordination needed for methadone therapy development
The wider deployment of methadone maintenance therapy to treat heroin dependence in the country was discussed at a conference in central Danang city on August 14.
Participants urged relevant agencies and authorities in 30 provinces and cities to cooperate in copying with the scourge of drug addiction with higher efficiency.
The event was co-organised by the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Popularisation and Education and the Health Ministry.
There are 170,000 drug users in Vietnam and 17,000 of them have been treated under the “Methadone maintenance treatment” programme over the past five years.
After a two-year treatment course, around 14 percent of the patients have still used drugs, 2 percent engaged in family violence and only 1 percent committed legal violations while nearly 76 percent of them got employed.
Methadone treatment has proved an economical form as its daily cost is about VND15,000 (US$0.7) per person in Vietnam.
The programme aims to provide drug replacement therapy to 80,000 addicts in 30 cities and provinces by 2015. But its successful implementation requires more funding, a stable supply of methadone, competent legal documents and a proficient staff, said the participants who joined finding tours of methadone treatment facilities in Danang.