Sharon Stancliff, MD, Medical Director, Harm Reduction Coalition in NYC, discusses the outbreak of fentanyl overdoses that led to more than 600 deaths in 2006.

The Evening News, Edinburgh News Jan. 17, 2007: The headline Signs of hope in fight against heroin addiction in Lothians leads an article reporting that "...the tide may be starting to turn in the battle against heroin in Edinburgh, as growing numbers move off the drug and on to methadone." Access the Full story from Evening News by clicking here

Central News Agency (Taiwan) 16 Jan 07: According to Central News Agency (Taiwan) release of Jan 16, "Dept of Health (DOH) will provide methadone therapy for drug-addicted prison inmates in northern Taiwan from Feb. 1..." DOH data indicate 40,000 out of 60,000 inmates are incarcerated for drug-related crimes, and 6,000 are HIV-positive. Overall the harm-reduction efforts in Taiwan seem to be having major impact: "Since the DOH started providing methadone therapy for HIV-infected drug addicts and launched a clean needle program... in Nov. 2005, the number of new HIV/AIDS patients in the country has recorded a significant drop..." For Full story click here

Dutch FDA: Diacetylmorphine (Heroin, both injectable and inhalable) has been registered as a medicinal product for the treatment of chronic, treatment-resistant heroin dependent patients in the Netherlands. CLICK FOR INFORMATION IN DUTCH

A press release dated 11 Jan 07 from the health ministry of Germany (!) applauded the decision of the Netherlands to join Switzerland as the only other country to approve heroin for clinical use outside of a research setting. The German ministry's interest: the expressed hope that this will be a "signal" for Germany as to the rational course to follow. As it stands, the German "heroin trial" ends June 2007 and no agreement has been reached on the fate of the patients ("subjects") thereafter.

Thanks to Ralf Gerlach for bringing to our attention.

Xinhua News Service (11 Jan): The news service reported a continued major expansion in plans for methadone treatment in China. Overall by the end of 2007 the number of clinics is expected to increase from 195 to 307; in Hunnan Province alone there will be 22 more clinics - 7 of them "mobile units" - bringing the provincial total to 75.

Expansion of treatment needed, particularly with methadone and buprenorphine. This is the conclusion of a study of over 2,500 patients reported by Yahoo (Germany) News, 15 Dec. "For opioid dependent individuals there simply is no effective alternative." Retention was over 65% and similar rates of success were experienced by patients treated by generalist office-based physicians as by specialty clinics.

l'Observatoire francais des drogues et des toxicomanies (OFTD), 4 Jan 07: A survey of "l'Observatoire francais des drogues et des toxicomanies (OFTD), released 4 Jan 07, stated that injection drug use rose substantially between 2003 and 2006. Heroin use, however, followed a different pattern. "Heroin has escaped this tendency toward increased injection but non-injection heroin use is experiencing a resurgence/comeback according to the study. One possible cause is the consistently declining image of BHD [buprenorphine], particularly among those who misuse it. Among people interviewed at "structures d'acceuil" [centers that provide counseling and help to drug users] in early 2006, 34% said they had used heroin in the past month, 4% points higher than the previous survey in 2003."

Reported in several other French publications as well, e.g. Figaro (also 5Jan07)

Yahoo Australia-NZ, Dec. 26, 2006: According to a news story of Dec. 26, Vietnam has "at least 280,000 HIV infections in a population of 84 million . . . [and] the number of new cases is rising rapidly at 100 new infections per day." As of Jan 1, 2007, however, a new pragmatic harm reduction approach holds promise for a better tomorrow: It "...provides for condom distribution, clean-needle exchange programmes and the heroin substitute methadone as part of the response to the epidemic." For the Full story click here

Okie, "Sex, Drugs, Prison and HIV," N Engl J Med 356;2, January 11, 2007: All U.S. prison systems "fall short" of international guidelines for reducing HIV transmission risk in prisons, according to this article in the Jan. 11 issue of NEJM. HIV prevalence among U.S. prison inmates was recorded at 1.8% in 2004 -- more than four times the prevalence in the general population -- and the number of AIDS cases among prisoners also was "substantially higher" than in the general population, according to the NEJM. The World Health Organization and UNAIDS have recommended for more than 10 years that prisoners be provided with access to condoms. UNAIDS and WHO also recommend that prisoners have access to "bleach for cleaning injecting equipment, that drug- dependence treatment and methadone maintenance programs be offered in prisons if they are provided in the community, and that needle-exchange programs be considered," according to NEJM. In the U.S., access to condoms is provided "on a limited basis" in only two state prison systems -- Vermont and Mississippi -- and five county jail systems -- New York; Philadelphia; San Francisco; Los Angeles; and Washington, D.C. Methadone is even rarer, and there is no access to clean needles in any U.S. prison or jail.