Completed Projects
Toolkit for opioid dependence treatment and rehabilitation and related HIV/AIDS
prevention. An integrated planning, training and implementation guide.
The WHO Centre developed an integrated planning, training and implementation
guide for safe and effective treatment to provide Burma, Cambodia, Lao PDR and
Thailand with the tools to guide and support the introduction or scale-up of
evidence-based drug substitution treatment services. A focus of the toolkit
is models for cooperation between opioid dependency treatment and HIV prevention,
treatment and care.
Toolkit
on Governance of Opioid Agonist Medication Treatment.pdf
The WHO Alcohol, Substance & Smoking Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST)
Phase I,II & III
The WHO Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST)
and associated Brief Intervention (BI) was developed in 1997 by the World Health
Organization and specialist addiction clinicians and researchers in response
to the overwhelming public health burden associated with problematic substance
use worldwide. The WHO Centre was a key contributor to this development. The
ASSIST has undergone significant testing in a range of countries including Australia,
Brazil, India, Ireland, Israel, Palestine, Thailand, UK, USA and Zimbabwe to
ensure that it is feasible across different cultures and reliable (Phase I)
and valid and able to be linked in to a Brief Intervention (Phase II).
Phase III of the WHO ASSIST project was a randomized controlled trial conducted
in 2003 -2007. The aims of the Phase III WHO study were to:
undertake an international multi-site collaborative project to evaluate the
effectiveness of a Brief Intervention for illicit drugs (cannabis, cocaine,
ATS & opioids) as linked to the ASSIST, in a variety of primary health
care settings and in a number of different cultural contexts;
develop client and clinician resources incorporating: instructions for administering
the ASSIST and Brief Intervention; self-help materials on specific drug information
and generic self-help strategies to reduce drug use; information on injecting
risk, and a feedback report card on current drug use.
ASSIST publications:
http://www.dassa.sa.gov.au/webdata/resources/files/Monograph14.pdf
http://www.dassa.sa.gov.au/webdata/resources/files/Monograph_23.pdf
WHO ASSIST weblink
http://www.who.int/substance_abuse/activities/assist/en/index.html
WHO Collaborative Study on Substitution Therapy of Opioid Dependence and HIV/AIDS
The WHO Collaborative Study was a multi-site international study that evaluated
the effectiveness of substitution treatment for opioid dependence in relation
to HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention in a number of developing and transitional
economies in Asia (China, Indonesia, and Thailand), Eastern and Central Europe
(Lithuania, Ukraine, Poland), and the Middle East (Iran). The study involved
the collection of outcome and process evaluation data at each of these sites.
Outcome data were also collected from an Australian Site (Adelaide) to serve
as a benchmark for comparisons. Two centres were responsible for coordinating
the study – the Adelaide WHO Collaborating Centre and one in Zurich. Manuals
for Process and Outcome Evaluation of Opioid Substitution Programs and a final
technical report are due to be released shortly.
In addition, a standardised program evaluation manual developed through this
WHO Collaborative Study on Substitution Therapy of Opioid Dependence will be
disseminated through WHO Centre networks. The standardised manual together with
technical support from the WHO Centre aims to encourage and support developing
countries to undertake evaluation of existing or newly introduced substitution
treatment for opioid dependence and HIV/AIDS.
WHO Multi-site Methamphetamine Psychosis Project
This project examined the extent and nature of the adverse health and psychiatric
symptoms, and their social consequences, associated with amphetamine-induced
psychotic episodes. The project was based in four countries in the South-East
Asia region (Australia, Thailand, Philippines and Japan). The WHO Centre was
the international coordinating site for the multi-site data collection, and
was responsible for collecting Australian data. The research involved interviews
with amphetamine users admitted to psychiatric units with psychotic episodes,
and examined patterns of amphetamine and other drug use, risk behaviours and
current treatment approaches for these problems.
http://www.dassa.sa.gov.au/webdata/resources/files/Monograph_20.pdf
WHO Multi-site Functional Use of Amphetamine-Type Stimulants (ATS) Project
This study investigated occupational (functional) use of amphetamine-type stimulants.
The project was conducted at three international collaborating centres in Asia
(China, Philippines and Thailand) and one in Africa (Nigeria), with coordination
of international data collection conducted through the Australian participating
site and the National Addiction Centre at the Maudsley Hospital in London, UK.
The groups examined included long distance commercial drivers, factory and agricultural
workers, secondary school and undergraduate university/technical students, and
sex industry workers in entertainment settings. The study examined patterns of
use and correlates of harm resulting from ATS use in the context of work related
performance enhancement.
Evaluation of Vietnam’s Compulsory Rehabilitation and Treatment Centres
In 2004, the Centre was sponsored by the United Nations Office on Drugs and
Crime (UNODC) to provide technical advice and training for an evaluation of Vietnam’s
compulsory rehabilitation and treatment centres.
Review of Pain Management Techniques for Patients on Buprenorphine Maintenance
Therapy.
In 2005, this South Australian-based study replicated a French review that
examined strategies used by doctors to manage buprenorphine maintenance clients
who present with either acute or chronic pain. The review involved a survey
of private prescriber GPs as well as prison health medical officers, specialists
working at the Flinders and Royal Adelaide pain clinics and medical officers
at Warinilla. A research bulletin containing a report on the findings is available.
http://www.dassa.sa.gov.au/webdata/resources/files/Bulletin5_Feb07.pdf
Research into tincture of opium as a pharmacotherapy for opioid dependence
DASSA, along with the Discipline of Pharmacology of Adelaide University, undertook
this project which explored the use of tincture of opium as a pharmacotherapy
for opioid dependence. The first phase of the research study involved a survey
of opiate use in the Vietnamese community of Adelaide, and a pharmacological study
involving the collection and analysis of blood samples from opiate users in Thailand.
A report on the first phase was released as a DASSA research monograph in early
2000. In 2001, further data collection occurred in Thailand to explore different
dosing regimes for tincture of opium.
http://www.dassa.sa.gov.au/webdata/resources/files/MONOGRAPH7.pdf
Review of the Literature on Ecstasy
In 2001, the WHO Centre completed a comprehensive review of the literature
on the epidemiology, pharmacology, neurotoxicity, adverse effects and treatment
of ecstacy use. This work has now been published by the WHO as a research monograph,
with a summary version published by the Drug and Alcohol Review journal.
http://www.who.int/substance_abuse/publications/drugs/en/index.html
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