ID: 1138

Type of submission: Oral

Conference track: Policy

Topics: Drug Policy Reform and Advocacy; Opioid Substitution Therapy Programmes

Presenting author: Mohammad Hassan Novin

Presenting author biography:

Dr Mohammad Hassan Novin is a full time PhD student of "Addiction Studies" at Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran. His work is focused on measurement of Harm Reduction.

The Iranian policy makers ambivalence towards MMT: A situation analysis.

Mohammad Hassan Novin, Emran Razaghi, Amin Afshar, Nader Charkhgard

Around 4000 methadone clinics are operational in Iran with a rough estimate of up to 400,000 clients. The clinics are generally run by private practitioners and are obliged to follow the guidelines prepared by the Ministry of Health. However, during the past couple of years the Ministry of Health has tried to limit the activities of those clinics and even bend the regulations in a way to discourage physicians from continuing their clinics. One specific excuse presented by the Ministry of Health is the leakage of methadone from the clinics to the black market. In this presentation we will provide an analysis of current situation of clinics, their structure, their services, and their methods of practice. The presentation will then review the policies of the Ministry of Health and will try to explore possible reasons behind this policy of the Ministry of Health.