SUNDAY, JULY 2, 1978
SUCCESS IN DRUG ADDICTION TREATMENT
BY ACUPUNCTURE AND ELECTRO-STIMULATION
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THE OUT-PATIENT TREATMENT OF DRUG ADDICTS BY ACUPUNCTURE AND ELECTRO-STIMULATION (AES), WHICH WAS INTRODUCED IN HONG KONG JUST A YEAR AGO, HAS ACHIEVED OUTSTANDING RESULTS IN CURING PHYSICAL DEPENDENCE ON HEROIN AND OPIUM.
THIS WAS REVEALED BY THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR OF THE AES PILOT SCHEME, DR. H.L. WEN.
HE SAID 15 PER CENT OF THE 300 DRUG ADDICTS WHO VOLUNTEERED TO UNDERGO THE PILOT SCHEME WERE SUCCESSFULLY DETOXIFIED
A VERY HIGH RATE, IF NOT THE HIGHEST, OF DETOXIFICATION ON AN OUT-PATIENT BASIS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.
DR. WEN IS AT PRESENT PREPARING A FULL ASSESSMENT REPORT FOR SUBMISSION TO ACTION COMMITTEE AGAINST NARCOTICS (ACAN) FOR CONSIDERTATION OF WHETHER AES SHOULD BE PERMANENTLY ESTABLISHED AS A MODE OF TREATMENT SERVICE AND BE EXTENDED IN FUTURE,
IN THE MEANTIME, ACAN HAS ENDORSED A PROPOSAL TO CONTINUE THE PILOT SCHEME, WHICH EXPIRED ON JULY 1, FOR SIX MORE MONTHS AS AN INTERIM MEASURE.
THE MAJOR ADVANTAGES OF AES OUT-PATIENT TREATMENT, DR. WEN SAID, ARE THAT IT IS RELATIVELY INEXPENSIVE AND DOES NOT REQUIRE ANY KIND OF MEDICINE.
IN ADDITION, THE PERIOD OF TREATMENT IS SHORT - ONLY 14 DAYS. BUT DRUG DEPENDENTS WITH A SHORT HISTORY OF ADDICTION, PARTICULARLY OPIUM SMOKERS, MAY REQUIRE AN EVEN SHORTER PERIOD.
ADDICTS UNDERGOING THIS TREATMENT WILL NOT HAVE THEIR DAILY WORK AFFECTED AS THE TREATMENT EACH DAY TAKES ONLY 30 MINUTES.
SINCE ITS ESTABLISHMENT IN JULY LAST YEAR AT THE TUNG WAH HOSPITAL IN SHEUNG WAN, HONG KONG ISLAND, THE AES CENTRE HAS REGISTERED MORE, THAN 900 PATIENTS, INCLUDING THE 300 WHO TOOK PART IN THE PILOT SCHEME. OVER 800 PATIENTS HAVE BEEN TREATED.
THE CENTRE IS EQUIPPED WITH 18 SETS OF AES MACHINES OF VARIOUS SIZES AND IS CAPABLE OF TREATING MORE THAN 30 PATIENTS AT ONE TIME.
DR. WEN ESTIMATED THAT THE COST OF TREATING EACH PATIENT AT THE CENTRE AT PRESENT IS $51 BUT IT WILL BECOME LOWER IF THE PROGRAMME IS FULLY DEVELOPED.
THE METHOD TO TREAT ADDICTS BY AES IS TO USE ELECTRO-STIMULATION THROUGH A PAIR OF ACUPUNCTURE NEEDLES WHICH ARE INSERTED SUBCUTANEOUSLY INTO THE CONCHA (OUTER EAR) OF BOTH EARS OF THE PATIENT TO SUPPRESS HIS WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS.
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