Funds allocated for drug trials to develop alternative treatments for heroin addiction [Audio]

23/6/99

More than $1 million will be spent on four drug trials aimed at developing alternative treatments for people with heroin addictions as part of the State Government's commitment to target drug abuse.
Announcing the program today, Health Minister John Day said funds would also be provided to increase the capacity of the Next Step Specialist Alcohol and Drug Service Centre in East Perth.
Mr Day said additional funding was necessary at the centre in response to an increased demand for services to assist heroin dependent people and their families.
He said the State Government had already allocated $1.3 million to construct a new drug treatment facility which was currently being built at the centre.

"An increasing number of people - especially those aged under 30 years of age - are seeking treatment through Next Step and community based services," the Minister said.
"There has also been an increased demand for family support services.
"We must respond to these demands and ensure a range of clinically assessed treatments become available for the treatment of drug addiction in Western Australia."
Mr Day said there would be three new drug trials, as well as the recently announced formal clinical trial of Dr George O'Neil's naltrexone program, for which $130,000 had already been supplied by the State Government.
He said the clinical trials would be conducted by Next Step Specialist Drug and Alcohol Services (formerly the WA Alcohol and Drug Authority) in collaboration with other Australian clinical research centres.
"The establishment of the trials reflects a direct response to the increased demand for alternative treatments for heroin and other opiates in WA," the Minister said.
The four trials involve either naltrexone or buprenorphine or a combination of the two, in conjunction with methadone.
"Naltrexone blocks the effect of heroin and other opioids," Mr Day said.
"On the other hand, buprenorphine is a new option which can be used as a maintenance treatment for short or long term therapy.
"International research suggests that buprenorphine and methadone have similar effects when used as maintenance treatments.
"However, the potential advantage with buprenorphine over methadone is that patients may only need to take the drug every second day."
The three trials will involve:

• naltrexone maintenance following heroin withdrawal;
• either naltrexone, methadone or buprenorphine maintenance after heroin withdrawal using buprenorphine; and -
• naltrexone maintenance following methadone withdrawal using buprenorphine.

Mr Day said the trials would recruit up to 500 heroin dependent people.
The trials should be under way within six months and it was hoped that results would be available by the middle of next year.
"For more than 25 years, methadone maintenance has been the mainstay drug treatment for the treatment of opioid dependence in WA," the Minister said.
"However, within the last few years, a number of research programs have started in Australia with the intention of introducing new drug treatments to clinical practice.
"While some of these treatments have been available overseas for many years, there is now a need to conduct local trials of new treatment options before they are implemented to ensure they adhere to current best practice.
"Next Step plans to collaborate with other Australian clinical research centres to build a local knowledge base in relation to new treatments as well as contributing data to various national trials."
Mr Day said in relation to the rapid detoxification naltrexone program, Dr O'Neil would be working with Professor Assen Jablensky, head of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of WA and an internationally renowned researcher.
"This research will provide an independent assessment of the rapid detoxification procedure currently being carried out at Dr O'Neil's Subiaco based naltrexone program," he said.
Mr Day said these research initiatives and the additional treatment capacity to be provided from the newly developed Next Step facility would greatly enhance the range of options available to those who experience problems with heroin and other opiates.
He said the number of beds for residential detoxification was being expanded to take up to 17 people (whereas it was previously 12 people) and additional three half-time clinicians would also join the team.
Media contact: Mark Thompson on 9213 6600

There is no single solution to targeting heroin addiction and it will depend on how the clinical trials progress and their assessment by specialists on what is an appropriate course of action (15 secs/325kb)