Methadone Man and Buprenorphine Babe

The video is 100% cheese but the underlying message is seriously enough. The situation in countries like Russia may be dire but there is plenty of nonsense floating around in the UK. One rumour circulating this month touts a move to ‘value-based’ policies (ie not evidence-based) which could involve time-limiting methadone treatment and abstinence/maintenance quotas. The NTA looks to have about as much long term viability as your average PCT and goodness knows what evidence-based policy it is going to drag down with it in its death throes.

If you think there is a place for methadone and buprenorphine as part of the treatment of opiate dependence then please sign the petition at http://wheresthemethadone.org. Their main concern is the spread of HIV: globally 1 in 10 cases are related to injecting drug use and outside of Africa it rises to 1 in 3 cases. But don’t just listen to Buprenorphine Babe (@bupebabe)- she is only quoting the WHO.

If opioid substitution therapy was made readily available globally, it could prevent up to 130,000 new HIV infections annually, reduce the spread of hepatitis C and other blood-borne diseases, and decrease deaths from opioid overdose by90 percent.

If you can’t cope with the video cheese then I can recommend the graphic novel:

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