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."