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(b)
(c)
A comprehensive policy review was carried out on all drug treatment and rehabilitation services, including the methadone treatment programme, in 1992. The review reaffirmed the role of the programme in our overall treatment and rehabilitation strategy, which provides a readily accessible, legal and medically safe and effective alternative to illicit administration of opiate drugs by drug abusers. It brings about positive benefits in reducing the demand for drugs and the harms caused by drug abuse to the community.
In March 1994, we engaged Dr Robert Newman, a widely regarded international expert in the field of drug addiction, as a consultant to Hong Kong to provide advice in relation to, inter alias, the methadone treatment programme. He reaffirmed the value of the programme and commended it as "a cornerstone of the successful containment of drug addiction in Hong Kong."
In November 1995, ACAN commissioned the Hong Kong Council of Social Service to carry out a research study reviewing objectives and outcomes of various drug treatment modalities adopted in Hong Kong, including the methadone treatment programme. This study will take three years to complete.
The Department of Health has put in place a comprehensive security system to prevent the hoarding of prescribed methadone by patients. Patients are required to attend a fixed clinic where the dosage is prescribed by doctors and monitored closely. All the prescribed methadone are required to be consumed in the clinic under the supervision of the clinic's staff before the patients leave the clinic. Generally, this system has worked well. There is at present no need to increase staff for the treatment centres. The Department of Health will in addition keep the operation of the programme under constant review, and improvements will be made in the light of operating experience and new developments in this field.
(d)
We believe that the most effective approach to address the nuisances complained of by local residents is to tackle the problem through co-ordinated inter-departmental efforts, including:
i) stepping up law enforcement action by the Police against illegal
activities in the vicinity of the clinics;
ii)
strengthening education and counselling. This includes reaching out to drug abusers in the districts, educating them on the proper disposal of used syringes, persuading them to seek treatment, and arranging anti- drug publicity in the districts.