People being treated for opioid addiction risk relapsing without changes in their support and treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Royal Australasian College of Physicians spokesman and president-elect of the Chapter of Addiction Medicine Professor Nicholas Lintzeris said the outbreak has had a huge impact on the 50,000 patients who use methadone or buprenorphine as treatment for their opioid dependence.
“Traditionally that usually meant patients got to a clinic,pharmacy or hospital,four,five,six,seven days a week in some cases,” he said.
“That might be fine under normal circumstances but in the context of COVID-19 that’s a model that doesn’t really work that well.”
But with other traditional support systems including alcoholics or narcotics anonymous and residential rehabilitation centres less accessible due to the outbreak,Professor Lintzeris said more people were also turning to medically assisted treatment for help.
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“We’re seeing quite a lot of people now,there has been quite a bit of influx of people seeking treatment for opioid problems,” he said.
Leading health and consumer groups including the RACP,the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia,the Australian Injecting and the Illicit Drug Users League have endorsed new national clinical guidelines to help treat these patients in a time when face-to-face services are limited.
The guidelines include increased access to take-home doses of medication to reduce the number of trips to the chemist,more patient and caregiver education around drug safety,better access to the opioid antidote naloxone,and increased support through telehealth.