Implementing methadone maintenance treatment in prisons in Malaysia

Wickersham, Jeffrey A.; Marcus, Ruthanne; Kamarulzaman, Adeeba; Zahari, Mimiwati; Altice, Frederick L.

doi:10.2471/blt.12.109132

Cited by 52 publications

(64 citation statements)

References 14 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…In other words, to understand methadone therapy completely, common objectives of withdrawal programs must be also taken into account: 1) Eliminating or reducing withdrawal symptoms, 2) Eliminating or reducing the craving for drugs, 3) Preventing recurrence of addiction, 4) Restoring the physiological activity level which has been lost due to drug abuse, and 5) Reducing criminal behaviors and improving behaviors that affect social and psychological health (27,(41)(42)(43). Iran is considered as one of the most successful countries in the field of methadone therapy as a method of harm reduction (44), however, various studies conducted in other countries have also shown the success of methadone therapy in harm reduction, especially in reducing high-risk behaviors such as shared injection (15,19,28,41,45,46). Thus, according to the results of the present research, the weaknesses extracted from these programs can be a guide to review and continue MMT programs in Iran prisons.…”

Section: "Methadone Users Who Do Not Inject Drugs Anymore Could Intermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This medication improves mental and physical conditions of patients and reduces the risk of diseases such as HIV/AIDS and hepatitis (20,21). According to studies, this method of treatment decreased mortality resulted from overdose, prevented withdrawal syndrome (22,23) and re-incarceration (24,25), and inhibited crimes initiated by illegal drug abuse; as a result, it provided infected people with the chance to improve their social health and life and involve in productive activities (26)(27)(28)(29)(30) …”

Section: Key Messagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Methadone maintenance treatment program in prisons from the perspective of medical and non-medical prison staff: a qualitative study in Iran

Moradi

Farnia²,

Shokoohi

et al. 2015

Int J Health Policy Manag

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: As one of the most important components of harm reduction strategy for high-risk groups, following the HIV epidemics, Methadone Maintenance Treatment (MMT) has been initiated in prisoners since 2003. In this paper, we aimed to assess the advantages and shortcomings of the MMT program from the perspective of people who were involved with the delivery of prison healthcare in Iran. Methods: On the basis of grounded theory and through conducting 14 Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), 7 FGDs among physicians, consultants, experts, and 7 FGDs among directors and managers of prisons (n= 140) have been performed. The respondents were asked about positive and negative elements of the MMT program in Iranian prisons.Results: This study included a total of 48 themes, of which 22 themes were related to advantages and the other 26 were about shortcomings of MMT programs in the prisons. According to participants' views "reduction of illegal drug use and high-risk injection", "reduction of potentially high-risk behaviors" and "making positive attitudes" were the main advantages of MMT in prisons, while issues such as "inaccurate implementation", "lack of skilled manpower" and "poor care after release from prison" were among the main shortcomings of MMT program. Conclusions: MMT program in Iran's prisons has achieved remarkable success in the field of harm reduction, but to obtain much more significant results, its shortcomings and weaknesses must be also taken into account by policy-makers.

show abstract

Section: "Methadone Users Who Do Not Inject Drugs Anymore Could Intermentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Key Messagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Methadone maintenance treatment program in prisons from the perspective of medical and non-medical prison staff: a qualitative study in Iran

Moradi

Farnia²,

Shokoohi

et al. 2015

Int J Health Policy Manag

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Пацијенти са по-стојећим менталним проблемима могу да имају користи од специфичне терапије, као што је когнитивно бихејвиорална терапија 22,24 . Доза метадона се одређује на основу индивидалних карактеристика пацијента, а потом се терапија примењује у дужем временском периоду, док постоји потреба 2,3,12,15,17,24 . Према Националним смерницама, дозе метадона ниже од 60mg данас се сматрају неефикасним.…”

Section: истраживање из сједињених америчкихunclassified

“…У студији која је спроведена у Малезији утврђено је да су пацијенти који су примали дневну дозу метадона већу од 80mg имали боље терапијске резултате током наредних 12 месеци од оних који су примењивали нижу дозу 17 . Студија која је пратила 102 труднице које су биле опиоидне зависнице, показала је да је половина ове кохорте била на метадонском програму и пре зачећа и примењивала метадон просечно у дози од 67,6mg.…”

Section: истраживање из сједињених америчкихunclassified