Health study shows the efficacy of drug treatments

A local public health study found that methadone maintenance treatment and needle and syringe programs are highly cost-effective in reducing HIV transmission, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said yesterday.

Lo made the remarks amid a heated debate online over methadone maintenance treatment and needle and syringe programs between supporters of Taipei mayoral candidates over the weekend.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator and Taipei mayoral candidate Puma Shen (沈伯洋) said on Saturday that drug prevention measures include needle exchange and methadone treatment programs, while Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安), currently seeking re-election, on Saturday said in a Facebook post that the danger lies in blurring the line between illegal drugs and medication, and urged against using methadone treatment as a smokescreen.

Photo: Lin Hui-chin, Taipei Times

The post sparked a fierce response from their respective supporters, drawing more 100,000 comments within two hours.

Lo yesterday posted on Facebook a link to a local public health study, saying that needle and syringe programs and methadone maintenance treatment proved to be highly cost-effective in reducing HIV transmission among people who take drugs intravenously, a public health policy where every NT$1 invested saves NT$19 in medical expenditure.

The two harm reduction policies have prevented 13,664 intravenous drug users from being diagnosed with HIV between 2005 and 2020, and they are expected to prevent 10,821 HIV transmissions between 2021 and 2040, he said.

The two policies cost NT$21 billion between 2005 and 2020, but saved in HIV-related medical expenditure by NT$404.1 billion during the same period. The policies cost NT$28 billion between 2021 and 2024, but are expected to save NT$321.3 billion in HIV-related medical expenditure, he said, adding that the benefit-cost ratios are 18.94 and 11.47, respectively.

Disease prevention transcends political parties, and the central and local governments would continue to implement cost-effective public health policies, Lo said, adding that he hoped everyone continued to support harm reduction policies as well as encourage the frontline workers and the participants in the programs.