Conference of one year review of piloting methadone take-home doses for patients on methadone maintenance therapy

In the morning of December 15, 2021, the Vietnam Administration for AIDS Control (VAAC) held a conference to review the results after 1 year of the pilot study about dispensing multi-day take-home Methadone doses to patients on opioid-addiction treatment. The conference was joined by the leaders of VAAC, and representatives from Ministry of Health, Ministry of Public Security, experts of international organizations including UNAIDS, UNODC, WHO, Hanoi Medical University, provincial Department of Health and Centers for Disease Control from Lai Chau, Dien Bien, Hai Phong ­- where the pilot program was implemented, and Bac Giang, Lao Cai, Nghe An – where the pilot program will be implemented in 2022.

Speaking at the opening of the conference, Nguyen Hoang Long, Ph.D., the head director of the Vietnam Administration for AIDS Control (VAAC), emphasized the necessity and importance of developing and expanding the Methadone take-home program, especially in the COVID-19 pandemic context.

The Center for Training and Research on Substance Abuse – HIV (CREATA-H), Hanoi Medical University was invited to independently evaluate the results of the pilot program. The technical team of HMU had been involved in developing the treatment guidelines for pilot program and provided training and technical support during the early stage of the program.

Nguyen Bich Diep, M.D, Ph.D., a representative of the assessment team of HMU, presented preliminary assessment results after 6 months of piloting the Methadone take-home program in three provinces/cities: Hai Phong, Dien Bien, and Lai Chau. The results showed that the program met expectations and had brought a lot of benefits to patients. Moreover, the program has been shown to be feasible and relatively safe when appropriate monitoring is in place. The assessment not only highlighted some of the limitations as well as challenges of the program, but also provided appropriate recommendations to improve its efficacy before expanding the pilot study further. In 2022, HMU will continue to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the pilot study after 2 years of implementation to provide more information for the future plan of expanding the Methadone-take home program nationwide.

Also at the conference, other representatives discussed and shared advantages as well as limitations throughout the implementation process, and plan to expand the pilot program in 3 provinces – Bac Giang, Nghe An, and Lao Cai – in 2022.