Pubdate: Sat, 24 Mar 2001 Source: Australian, The (Australia) Copyright: 2001 News Limited {YEAR} Contact: Box 339 GPO Adelaide, SA 5001 Fax: (08) 8206-3688 Website: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/ Author: John Kerin NEW DRUG TO STEM HEROIN DEATH TIDE A REVOLUTIONARY heroin addiction treatment will be made widely available to users in a bid to curb an expected wave of overdose deaths. The heroin craving blocker buprenorphine, which is regarded as a vastly superior substitute to methadone, has been approved by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee to meet an expected new wave of heroin overdose deaths following the present heroin drought. It is expected to be made available cheaply on the country's subsidised drug scheme by mid-year. The decision is the first by the committee since a furore was triggered over its independence by the appointment of an industry representative. Buprenorphine has been used in clinical trials for some time but, from Monday, manufacturer Reckitt Bensicker will announce it will be made widely available for accredited GPs and treatment programs. The average cost of the drug is about $8 a patient a day, but this will be reduced when it is placed on the scheme. A course of treatment lasts from weeks to months. Negotiations on price have yet to be finalised. One of the country's leading drug research institutions, the University of NSW-based National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, last night called for an urgent boost to treatment funding to meet an anticipated wave of post-heroin drought overdose deaths. "We know there are at least 40,000 users in NSW and 100,000 nationally, and the dangers of a flood of heroin overdoses is very real," senior lecturer Kate Dolan said. The National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre found in a survey of February drug use trends that the heroin drought was forcing users to take greater chances with lethal drug cocktails and exposing them to higher risk of infection. While the report welcomes a drop in overdose deaths, it says "if heroin supplies return ... forced abstinence has been identified as a significant risk factor in overdose". The Melbourne-based Turning Point Drug and Alcohol Centre's head of research, Alison Ritter, said last night that buprenorphine was "far superior to existing treatment with methadone". A study by the centre last year found 86 per cent of addicts given buprenorphine completed a detoxification program, compared with 57per cent given the standard treatment. She said buprenorphine had fewer side-effects and, unlike methadone, blocked the effects of heroin. Its effects also lasted longer. "It would be fantastic if we had this treatment available in time for the end of the heroin drought," Dr Ritter said. "There is a huge risk of a spate of heroin overdose deaths because users will have reduced tolerance." - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens