Illustrative image (Source: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – The ’s
(VAAC) has announced that it will use
to treat nearly 500 in the mountainous provinces of
Dien Bien, Nghe An and Son La this year.
The buprenorphine treatment will be expanded
in 2018 to some 2,000 drug abusers in Dien Bien, Son La, Nghe An, Thanh Hoa,
Hoa Binh, Yen Bai and Lai Chau provinces.
The VAAC said the World Health Organisation recommends countries use
both methadone and buprenorphine in drug treatment. The latter has been used in
France since 1995, in Australia since 2000 and the US since 2009.
Both methadone and buprennorphine can reduce
law violations and the risk of blood-transmitted diseases, but the latter costs
more and should be taken three or four times per week.
The use of suboxone containing
buprennorphine has previously been piloted in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. As a
result, suboxone users significantly abused less heroin, especially for the
first three months after treatment.-VNA
Source: VietnamPlus
