United States Will Support Pilot Methadone Program In Vietnam
A new methadone program is slated to start up in Vietnam after the new year, according to a conference reported on by AFP/Yahoo! News. The goal of the conference and the methadone initiative is to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS among injection drug users (IDUs), and the United States is in full support.
The delegates of the conference representing the Vietnamese government say, “Our main goal will continue to be on preventing, and providing care and treatment for people living with HIV.” With that in mind, their target group is IDUs in all populations: youth, homeless, sex workers and their clients. The first step in their plan is to create and implement a methadone treatment program at six sites, hoping that IDUs will opt for the treatment and choose not to share needles in their use of street drugs.
Ultimately, after prevention of new transmissions of HIV, the goal is to provide the 22,000 people living with HIV in Vietnam with the antiretroviral drugs they need to suppress the advancement of the disease. More than half of those people have already been reached with the treatment they need.
It seems to me that with such a far reaching (and expensive) goal the far more cost-effective and efficient route would be to implement Suboxone treatment centers instead of methadone clinics in Vietnam. With longer blocking action thanks to the naloxone in the mixture, Suboxone is far more effective than methadone for those who are addicted to street drugs. The effects of methadone wear off in 24 hours or less, so that some feel compelled to get loaded before their next day’s dose at the clinic. With Suboxone, the withdrawal-fighting effects last for up to three days so even if one or two days of the prescription were missed, drug users would still be protected against relapse.
Methadone certainly has its place in the treatment of street drug addiction but when it comes to cost-effective and efficient public policy, Suboxone treatment is the better choice.
For more information on this and other health related issues, check out Kaiser Network.
If you like this post subscribe to the feed
