Hanoi(VNA) – Deputy Director of the Vietnam Administration of HIV/AIDS Control (VAAC)Hoang Dinh Canh has denied rumours that Vietnam will not continue providing methadonetreatment due to claims it is ineffective for synthetic drug addicts, who arethought to account for the majority of drug users.

It is not correctthat most drug addicts use synthetic drugs, according to Canh. Ministry ofPublic Security statistics show that the number of drug abusers was estimatedat 210,751 in Vietnam by the end of 2016, with users of synthetic drugsaccounting for 9.8 percent, or 20,778 people, he said.

Meanwhile, thenumber of people using opium-based drugs was 159,844, making up 75.8 percent ofthe total, and heroin was the most popular, used by 73.1 percent of theaddicts, he noted, adding that these figures might be much higher as many caseswere not recorded due to fear of discrimination.

In addition, drugabusers may change from using one drug to another, depending on their finances,desires and the drugs’ availability. Despite this, heroin is the most commondrug among addicts, necessitating the provision of methadone treatment, heaffirmed.

Cities, provincesand state agencies across the country will conduct more regular surveys toproduce more accurate statistics about drug users to avoid rumours like this,the official revealed.

Vietnam should scaleup the treatment as methadone treatment is currently only availablefor a thirdof drug users, he urged.

According to the VAAC deputy director, Vietnamstarted the Methadone Maintenance Therapy (MMT) programme in 2008 which hassoon proved its effectiveness.

After a 24-month treatment course, only 15.37 percent of participating drugaddicts relapsed into bad habits but these people also reduced the frequency ofuse.

High-risk behaviours for HIV have decreased at the same time. Before thetreatment course, about 86.9 percent of the participating patients injecteddrugs. The figure declined to 53.9 percent after six months and 42.4 percentafter 24 months among those continuing using drugs.

People taking the MMT have shown positive changes psychologically andphysically. The number of the drug users committing crimes fell from 40.8percent to 1.34 percent while the percentage of those with a job increased from64.4 percent to 75.9 percent after the course.

In terms of finance, a drug addict uses about 84 millionVND (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 currentlyjoining the programme, Vietnam can save approximately 4.39 trillion VND (193.16million USD) every year.-VNA