Article from "Financial Times", London, Dec. 2, 1997 Author: Khozem Merchant

Republished in World Press Review, February, 1998, p. 41

HERBS TO KICK HEROIN

A Vietnamese herbal-based treatment for heroin addiction is about to be
tested in the U.S. Its advocates claim that it ends dependency on the drug
within five days. Heantos, made up of 13 natural products grown in Vietnam,
was invented by a Hanoi construction worker who says he was determined to
find a cure for an addiction that has brought great hardship to his family.

Since 1991,the Vietnamese government says, 4,000 heroin, opium, and cocaine
addicts have been successfully treated with Heantos, from the Greek meaning
"plant." The discovery has excited the government in Vietnam and the United
Nations Development Program (UNDP), which is investing $400,000 as seed
capital to fund tests of the treatment, The Vietnamese government is
contributing $100,000.

Heantos's advocates say it is a detoxification treatment to end dependency,
unlike Western drug substitutes such as methadone. Roy Morey, director of
the UNDP in Washington and a former UNDP head of mission in Hanoi, told a
congressional committee that "initial tests had demonstrated that Heantos
is effective against recidivism." He said the cost per patient was $70,
cheap compared with Western treatment.

The UNDP describes Heantos as an "interesting idea that deserves encour-
agement." That may now come from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore,
which has agreed to conduct experiments on Heantos and establish a protocol
designed to meet international standards.

Johns Hopkins's participation is seen as a coup for the Hanoi government,
which seeks to win global recognition for Heantos as a prelude to
commercial exploitation. Scientists from Vietnam have presented their
research to the U.S. Congress and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA),
whose approval remains the ultimate target. Few Asian herbal-based
treatments for drug addiction have been exposed to the scrutiny of the FDA.
This is the first time U.S. and Vietnamese scientists have cooperated on
such a venture. The main operational tests will soon begin in the U.S. and
Vietnam and could cost between $3 million and $4 million over three years.

Hua Toan, director of Hanoi's Institute of Chemistry, which has been
leading the tests, says: "Heantos is a triumph for traditional medicine. It
is a good medication, and we are hopeful [for its use] in Vietnam--and
elsewhere."

Yet there are serious doubts within the international scientific community.
Scientists are skeptical of the claims but agree that any drug that offers
some hope of curing heroin addiction should be investigated. The UNDP
mission in Hanoi admits that much of the evidence supporting the Vietnamese
government's claims is anecdotal and that without internationally
recognized clinical testing, commercial exploitation of Heantos may prove
elusive.

An internal paper from the United Nations' World Health Organization
reflects these concerns. It states that "no controlled clinical trials
[were] ever conducted; no control human studies were conducted; no animal
safety data is available; and efficacy [was] based on clinical experience
and anecdotal reports of individual cases."

Edouard Wattez, head of the UNDP mission in Hanoi, says risks must be taken
in the battle against drugs, which in the U.S. alone gives rise to indirect
and direct costs of $70 billion to $80 billion annually. "If the UNDP does
not take the risk," he asks, "who will?"

Heantos's exact ingredients remain a secret known only to a select few led
by its inventor,Tran Khoung Dan. Dan sold his home and spent a decade
traveling to Thanh Hoa province in the Vietnamese uplands, where opium is
grown and where he became an addict. He says many opium growers are addicts
and have developed substitutes for use during poor harvests.

"ln Asia we have a philosophy of traditional medicines," says Dan. He
developed Heantos initially as a syrup; it is now available in capsule
form. Heantos is applied in two stages: first, to help abandon drug intake
within a week and second, after a month, to prevent a resumption of drug use.

Patients are treated at a clinic in Hanoi.Typical is Nguyen Van Son, 37, an
addict for two years, who took Heantos and is now recovered. He says three
powerful forces--the clinic, his mother, and his own
determination-coalesced around the new drug and ensured his successful
treatment. "My family and I were surprised. We thought it would just lead
to a reduction in dosage [of heroin consumption]," says Son, who has
resumed work at the family's scrap-iron business. "I tried other
treatments, but I suffered side effects. I tried Heantos a year ago and
have not suffered a relapse."