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THURSDAY, MARCH 6, 1975
CONSULTANT PRAISES ADDICTION TREATMENT IN HONG KONG
BUT SEES NEED FOR ADDITIONAL APPROACHES
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A VISITING CONSULTANT ON DRUG ADDICTION TREATMENT FROM AMERICA, DR. ROBERT NEWMAN, HAS SPOKEN HIGHLY OF HONG KONG'S TREATMENT PROGRAMMES WHICH HE SAYS ARE AS EFFECTIVE AS ANY COMPARABLE PROGRAMMES IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD.+
HOWEVER, HE WOULD LIKE TO SEE THE EXISTING PROGRAMMES TO BE COMPLEMENTED BY NEW APPROACHES TO REACH A GREATER PROPORTION OF THE LOCAL ADDICT POPULATION.
DR. NEWMAN, WHO HAS BEEN IN CHARGE OF THE ADDICTION PROGRAMMES OF THE NEW YORK CITY HEALTH DEPARTMENT FOR THE LAST FIVE YEARS, IS WIND!.3 UP HIS TWO-MONTH VISIT TO LOOK INTO THE OVERALL EFFORTS MADE IN HONG KONG TO COMBAT THE PROBLEM OF DRUG ADDICTION.
HIS VISIT IS JOINTLY SPONSORED BY THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION AND THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT. DURING THE PAST TWO MONTHS, HE HAS VISITED THE MEDICAL AND HEALTH DEPARTMENT'S METHADONE MAINTENANCE CENTRES AND HAS HAD TALKS WITH VARIOUS INDIVIDUALS AND GROUPS CONCERNED WITH THE DRUG ADDICTION PROBLEM.
DR. NEWMAN SAID HE WAS IMPRESSED WITH THE WORK CARRIED OUT BY GOVERNMENT AND VOLUNTARY AGENCIES IN THE FIELD OF ADDICTION, BUT HE FELT THAT MORE SHOULD AND COULD BE DONE TO REACH OUT GREATER NUMBER OF DRUG ADDICTS.
+WHILE HONG KONG CAN BE PROUD OF THE EXISTING PROGRAMMES.+ HE SAID, THE FACT IS THAT THEY ARE REACHING OUT ONLY A RELATIVELY SMALL PERCENTAGE OF THE ESTIMATED 80,000 ADDICTS.+
HE ADVOCATED THE INTRODUCTION OF AN +AMBULATORY DETOXIFICATION PROGRAMME+ - A SHORT-TERM TREATMENT REQUIRING NO HOSPITALISATION.
THIS TREATMENT, HE SAID, COULD BE MADE AVAILABLE QUITE ECONOMICALLY AND COULD ATTRACT APPLICANTS IN LARGE NUMBERS. IT WOULD INVOLVE THE ADMINISTRATION OF GRADUALLY DECREASING DOSES OF METHADONE UNTIL, AFTER ABOUT THREE OR FOUR WEEKS, THE PATIENT IS +DRUG-FREE+ AND NO LONGER DEPENDENT ON DRUGS.
+SUCH WITHDRAWAL TREATMENT IS CLEARLY NOT CAPABLE OF ACHIEVING LONG-TERM CURES FOR MOST PATIENTS, BUT EVEN A TEMPORARY PERIOD OF ABSTINENCE IS OBVIOUSLY OF BENEFIT TO THE PATIENT. AND WHEN MANY THOUSANDS OF ADDICTS CAN BE DETOXIFIED EVERY YEAR, THE
IMPACT ON THE GENERAL COMMUNITY WILL BE SUBSTANTIAL,+ HE SAID.
/DR. NEWMAN
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