India seeks more liberal UN, WHO policies to treat drug abuse patients

India has urged the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to bring in more liberal policies, such as telemedicine and a take-home protocol for controlled medicines, for treating patients with drug abuse disorders. With patients unable to visit hospitals due to the pandemic, and many forced to discontinue treatment midway, there was a growing need to adopt alternative arrangements, India said at the 65th meeting of the UN Commission on Narcotics Drugs.

“We have appealed to WHO and UNODC to come up with strong guidelines and scientific evidence for treatment of drug-dependent patients in India and the world. We urged the international authorities to bring policy reforms on access to controlled medicines like methadone and buprenorphine,” said Dr Atul Ambekar, psychiatrist, National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, who represented India on behalf of the health ministry.

Methadone and Buprenorphine are used to treat opioid dependence, including heroin and narcotic painkillers.

“At present, patients must visit hospitals every day and consume anti-addiction drugs in-front of a doctor. But during the pandemic, it became difficult for patients to commute every day to the hospital due to covid restrictions and, hence, we prescribe these medicines to consume at home. We did not find any misuse and they started consuming the medicines at home. As a result their health condition improved,” Ambekar added.

According to a 2019 report on substance abuse in India by the ministry of social justice and empowerment, out of the approximately 31 million cannabis users, 7.2 million were problem users. Out of the 24 million users of opioids, 7.7 million were problem users, and 2.2 million of the 7.7 million individuals using inhalers were problem users.

AIIMS is conducting a scientific evidence-based study in five states on how patients were responding to anti-addiction medicines for at-home consumption. “Preliminary results of the study are showing good outcome in patients’ health. Based on the report, we have recommended the UN and WHO to bring some relaxation in prescribing anti-addiction medicines with a take-home policy,” Ambekar said.

India has also appealed to the international authorities to come up with effective guidelines for telemedicine to help drug-dependent patients.

“During the pandemic, the government encouraged doctors to consult patients over telemedicine. But there are no such guidelines for treating such patient’s over telemedicine. At present, we can’t prescribe certain controlled medicines over virtual mode. Doctors should be given liberty to prescribe such drugs over telemedicine given the present scenario,” he added.

At the annual meeting held on 14-18 March in Vienna, Austria, members discussed international drug policy commitments, and steps to improve availability and access to controlled substances for medical and scientific purposes.