Patients are taking methadone at a treatment facility in Hanoi. (Source: vaac.gov.vn)
Hanoi
(VNA) – Deputy Director of the Vietnam Administration of Control (VAAC)
Hoang Dinh Canh has denied rumours that Vietnam will not continue providing methadone
treatment due to claims it is ineffective for , who are
thought to account for the majority of drug users.
It is not correct
that most drug addicts use synthetic drugs, according to Canh. Ministry of
Public Security statistics show that the number of drug abusers was estimated
at 210,751 in Vietnam by the end of 2016, with users of synthetic drugs
accounting for 9.8 percent, or 20,778 people, he said.
Meanwhile, the
number of people using opium-based drugs was 159,844, making up 75.8 percent of
the total, and heroin was the most popular, used by 73.1 percent of the
addicts, he noted, adding that these figures might be much higher as many cases
were not recorded due to fear of discrimination.
In addition, drug
abusers may change from using one drug to another, depending on their finances,
desires and the drugs’ availability. Despite this, heroin is the most common
drug among addicts, necessitating the provision of , he
affirmed.
Cities, provinces
and state agencies across the country will conduct more regular surveys to
produce more accurate statistics about drug users to avoid rumours like this,
the official revealed.
Vietnam should scale
up the treatment as methadone treatment is currently only availablefor a third
of drug users, he urged.
According to the VAAC deputy director, Vietnam
started the Methadone Maintenance Therapy (MMT) programme in 2008 which has
soon proved its effectiveness.
After a 24-month treatment course, only 15.37 percent of participating drug
addicts relapsed into bad habits but these people also reduced the frequency of
use.
High-risk behaviours for HIV have decreased at the same time. Before the
treatment course, about 86.9 percent of the participating patients injected
drugs. The figure declined to 53.9 percent after six months and 42.4 percent
after 24 months among those continuing using drugs.
People taking the MMT have shown positive changes psychologically and
physically. The number of the drug users committing crimes fell from 40.8
percent to 1.34 percent while the percentage of those with a job increased from
64.4 percent to 75.9 percent after the course.
In terms of finance, a drug addict uses about 84 million
VND (3,696 USD) worth of drugs per year while the cost for MMT is only around 6
– 8 million VND (264 – 352 USD) annually. With over 52,230 people currently
joining the programme, Vietnam can save approximately 4.39 trillion VND (193.16
million USD) every year.-VNA
Source: VietnamPlus
