The Department of Health (DOH) plans to introduce methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) in prisons in central and southern Taiwan in an effort to reduce recidivism among drug users and stem the spread of AIDS, a department official said yesterday.
“In Taiwan, recidivism reaches 90 percent among drug convicts. Moreover, 33 percent of local HIV carriers are injecting drug users [IDU]. We believe it is necessary to introduce MMT into the prison system to help lower recidivism and prevent the spread of AIDS,” said Lin Li-jen (林立人), head of the fifth bureau at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
Statistics compiled by the Ministry of Justice showed that 60,000 of Taiwan’s 400,000 documented drug addicts are IDUs.
Meanwhile, CDC statistics show that as of the end of May, 6,372 of the country’s about 19,000 HIV carriers are IDUs, making injecting the second-most common way to spread HIV — the virus that causes AIDS — after homosexual intercourse.
Lin said that based on his estimates, between 60,000 and 100,000 local IDUs are in and out of prisons repeatedly, with little prospects for quitting their addiction.
Against this backdrop, Lin said, the CDC plans to introduce the MMT program to prisons in central and southern Taiwan, where most drug convicts are serving their time.
In the initial stage, Lin said, MMT will mainly be offered to inmates whose prison terms will soon end.
As part of its nationwide HIV and AIDS prevention program, the CDC first introduced MMT and clean syringe supply services in four cities and counties in 2006 on an experimental basis. To date, 77 local hospitals have been designated to offer MMT to addicts, with the DOH and prosecution authorities offering financial subsidies for the programs.
A-Kai (a pseudonym), an HIV-positive former drug inmate who is now operating a farm in southern Taiwan, said he hopes the proposed introduction of MMT in local prisons can be put into practice as early as possible to help IDUs rebuild their lives after their release.
A-Kai, who managed to lease a plot of idle farmland from a temple three years ago after serving a five-year prison term for drug addiction, said he received a great deal of help from dedicated public healthcare staff and non-governmental organization volunteers in his struggle to get clean.
“None of them were my acquaintances, but they were so generous in helping me. I was moved by their dedication and decided to stand on my own feet and not let them down,” A-Kai said. “Nowadays, every fruit and vegetable produced from my farm carries my dream. And I hope to see the government adopt every possible measure to help as many drug inmates as possible to quit their nightmarish habit.”
He also expressed willingness to share his personal experiences with other addicts and to offer them counseling in farm management.
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