23.07.2013, 13:13 46255

US Ambassador insisted on a methadone program in Kazakhstan

When Salidat Kairbekovawas appointed Minister of Health, U.S. Ambassador Richard E. Hoagland wrote her a letter in which by plain text said that if the methadone program was not continue, it would be called into question the possibility of further grants from the Global Fund Kazakhstan. We do not need their money at this price!" said in an interview for Metropolis newspaper president of the National Medical Association Aizhan Sadykova.

Almaty. July 23. Kazakhstan Today - The U.S. Ambassador to Kazakhstan Richard E. Hoagland insisted in a letter to the Minister of Health on the extension of the methadone program in Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan Today reports.

"When Salidat Kairbekovawas appointed Minister of Health, U.S. Ambassador Richard E. Hoagland wrote her a letter in which by plain text said that if the methadone program was not continue, it would be called into question the possibility of further grants from the Global Fund Kazakhstan. We do not need their money at this price!" said in an interview for Metropolis newspaper president of the National Medical Association Aizhan Sadykova.

According to Sadykova "methadone is much stronger than heroin. If the break-up of heroin lasts 7 days, than from methadone the number is 40. Moreover, the pain of breaking heroin can take medications that do not contain drugs. When methadone to make it much more difficult. Fact that methadone is a liquid pink, suffused in a bottle, is a danger to the illegal distribution of drugs. Pour into the same bottles, diluted with water - and sell on the black market! Also it is difficult to adjust the dose of methadone, therefore, percentage of deaths in the world from the drug is high. But the worst is the impact on the psyche. Methadone is much stronger and faster than the same heroin provoke irreversible changes in the nervous system, until the complete degradation. When in Temirtau methadone was not delivered on time, the drug addictswere so aggressive that the doctors had a hard time cope with the situation. And what happens if methadone is not delivered on time and there will be a huge amount of its addicts, as it is planned by lobbyists - from 10 000 to 51 000?"

As explained by the President of the National Medical Association, "those numbers" are written in terms of promotion of methadone, developed by the Global Fund and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. Also, it says that by 2014, the point of distribution to be installed at each drug treatment hospital and clinic, NGO, AIDS centers, TB clinic and prison. This is similar to creating a zombie army! Because anyone of the methadone addicts for the daily dose should come to the point of delivery and will be ready to execute any command for a dose. By the way, the Action Plan states that the delay in delivery of methadone for at least one day threatens the social and political unrest. And moreover, there is one postscript in this regard - the developers of this project are not responsible for all the consequences associated with the introduction of methadone in Kazakhstan. "

"The OST program of Global Fund is scheduled for a period till 2014, then our country will have to buy the drug at their own expense. And the cost estimates also raise some questions. In Kazakhstan to keep-up one addict costs $5 a day, but in neighboring Kyrgyzstan the price is $1. Maybe the kickbacks have already been included into the cost? Whatever it was, but only for the year 2012 in Zhambyl for the purchase of methadone were spent an amount equal to the entire budget of the regional drug treatment dispensary. And how much will it cost to keep-up all methadone addicts? That's why I insist on a complete rejection of the drug! And the sooner we decide, the easier it will be done," said A. Sadykova.

According to the newspaper, now in Kazakhstan there areless than 200methadone addicts. Meanwhile, in neighboring Russia and Uzbekistan refused methadone OST. Moreover, Uzbekistan, having tried methadone as a pilot project and seen no special advantages, gave us unused vials as humanitarian aid. Official OST funding by the Global Fund to end next year, what will happen next - so far not known, because the project has been extended several times.

This information may not be reproduced without reference to Kazakhstan Today. Copyright of materials of News Agency Kazakhstan Today.

Found an error in the text?

Select the error and press Ctrl + Enter at the same time.

relevant news

Most viewed