GUANGDONG would probably provide methadone, a cheap substitute drug in the treatment of morphine or heroin addiction, for some drug addicts in the province this year, said an official with the Guangdong disease control institute.

The methadone program would be piloted in two test areas this year if everything went well, said Lin Peng, head of the HIV/AIDS division of the Guangdong disease control institute.

Drug addicts in the two areas, which are yet to be identified, will have access to one dose of methadone a day. HIV/AIDS carriers who are permanent residents of the test areas will have priority in receiving methadone. The methadone will be provided free of charge by the government, but all addicts will be charged 10 yuan (US$1.2) per dose to help cover venue rent and administration costs.

As the price of methadone is close to that of heroin on the black market, addicts must take the methadone on the premises. Experienced doctors and nurses would supervise them taking methadone, and they would not be allowed to take the medication off the premises, said Lin.

Access to cheap methadone would help prevent drug addicts from turning to crime and reduce intravenous drug use, a main channel of HIV/AIDS transmission in China, said Lin.

Ninety percent of Guangdong HIV/AIDS sufferers were infected by sharing syringes, said Lin.

However, some experts said the methadone therapy would not satisfy people with a heavy addiction. They suggest the government open the syringe market so that drug addicts can buy syringes in drug stores.

In China, drug stores are not allowed to sell syringes. Most drug addicts shared syringes because they could not buy them, not because they could not afford them, a survey by the provincial disease control institute found.

 
Editor: Wings