Methadone treatment must be valued, experts warn

Policy and treatment services must be clear about the value and importance of methadone treatment, a group of international experts has said.[/size]

The warning came as official NHS figures showed that there were almost 500,000 prescriptions for methadone issued in Scotland in 2008/09.[/size]

The purpose of methadone treatment was misunderstood and misrepresented in the media, the group of doctors and other medical professionals said in a letter to The Scotsman newspaper this week.

People with serious addictions were “at great risk” of death from overdose and infection and methadone could prevent death, stabilise lifestyles and improve social functioning, the group explained.

Compared to other essential medical therapies, methadone is not expensive. Most patients who benefit from methadone treatment can live otherwise normal lives,” the experts said.

The letter referred to research which showed that methadone treatment substantially reduces deaths, crime, HIV infection and drug use, and assists in social functioning such as improved education, training, parenting and employment.

“If policymakers were to heed the critics' advice to close down methadone treatment, or impose an arbitrary time limit on its administration, the community can anticipate more overdose deaths, more HIV and more crime,” the group concluded. ‘Surely this is not what the public want and deserve.

Figures released by ISD Scotland last week revealed that methadone prescribing rates have increased by almost a fifth over five years but have remained relatively stable in the past three.

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