1. Reorganization of Substance Use Treatment and Harm Reduction Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Global Survey
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Seyed Ramin Radfar, Cornelis A. J. De Jong, Ali Farhoudian, Mohsen Ebrahimi, Parnian Rafei, Mehrnoosh Vahidi, Masud Yunesian, Christos Kouimtsidis, Shalini Arunogiri, Omid Massah, Abbas Deylamizadeh, Kathleen T. Brady, Anja Busse, ISAM-PPIG Global Survey Consortium, Marc N. Potenza, Hamed Ekhtiari, Alexander Mario Baldacchino, Adrian Octavian Abagiu, Franck David Noel Abouna, Mohamed Hassan Ahmed, Basma Al-ansari, Feda Mahmmoud Abu Al-khair, Mandhar Humaid Almaqbali, Atul Ambekar, Hossein Mohaddes Ardabili, Sidharth Arya, Victor Olufolahan Lasebikan, Murad Ali Ayasreh, Debasish Basu, Zoubir Benmebarek, Roshan Bhad, Mario Blaise, Nicolas Bonnet, Jennifer Brasch, Barbara Broers, Jenna L. Butner, Moses Camilleri, Giovanna Campello, Giuseppe Carra, Ivan Celic, Fatemeh Chalabianloo, Abhishek Chaturvedi, José de Jesús Eduardo Noyola Cherpitel, Kelly J. Clark, Melissa Anne Cyders, Ernesto de Bernardis, John Edward Derry, Naveen Kumar Dhagudu, Pavla Dolezalova, Geert Dom, Adrian John Dunlop, Mahmoud Mamdouh Elhabiby, Hussien Elkholy, Nsidibe Francis Essien, Ghandi Ilias Farah, Marica Ferri, Georgios D Floros, Catherine Friedman, Clara Hidalgo Fuderanan, Gilberto Gerra, Abhishek Ghosh, Maka Gogia, Ilias A. Grammatikopoulos, Paolo Grandinetti, Amira Guirguis, David Gutnisky, Paul Steven Haber, Peyman Hassani-Abharian, Zahra Hooshyari, Islam Ibrahim Mokhtar Ibrahim, Hada Fong-ha Ieong, Regina Nova Indradewi, Shelly Iskandar, Shobhit Jain, Sandi James, Seyyed Mohammad hossein Javadi, Keun Ho Joe, Darius Jokubonis, Acka Tushevska Jovanova, Rama Mohamed Kamal, Alexander Ivanov Kantchelov, Preethy Kathiresan, Gary Katzman, Paul Kawale, Audrey Margaret Kern, Felix Henrique Paim Kessler, Sung-Gon Sue Kim, Ann Marie Kimball, Zeljko Kljucevic, Kristiana Siste, Roneet Lev, Hae Kook Lee, Aiste Lengvenyte, Shaul Lev-ran, Geni Seseja Mabelya, Mohamed Ali El Mahi, J. Maphisa Maphisa, Icro Maremmani, Laura Masferrer, Orlagh McCambridge, Garrett Gregory McGovern, Aung Kyi Min, Amir Moghanibashi-Mansourieh, Jazman Mora-Rios, Indika Udaya Kumara Mudalige, Diptadhi Mukherjee, Pejic Munira Munira, Bronwyn Myers, Jayakrishnan Menon T N, Venkata Lakshmi Narasimha, Nkemakolam Ndionuka, Ali-Akbar Nejatisafa, Kamran Niaz, Asad Tamizuddin Nizami, Jan H. Nuijens, Laura Orsolini, Vantheara Oum, Adegboyega Adekunle Oyemade, Irena Rojnia Palavra, Sagun Ballav Pant, Joselyn Paredes, Eric Peyron, Randall Alberto Quirós, Rouhollah Qurishi, Noor ul Zaman Rafiq, Ranjini Raghavendra Rao, Woraphat Ratta-apha, Karren-Lee Raymond, Jens Reimer, Eduardo Renaldo, Tara Rezapour, James Roy Robertson, Carlos Roncero, Fazle Roub, Elizabeth Jane Rubenstein, Claudia Ines Rupp, Elizabeth Saenz, Mohammad Salehi, Lampros Samartzis, Laura Beatriz Sarubbo, Nusa Segrec, Bigya Shah, Hongxian Shen, Tomohiro Shirasaka, Steve Shoptaw, Fransiskus Muronga Sintango, Veronica Andrea Sosa, Emilis Subata, Norberto Sztycberg, Fatemeh Taghizadeh, Joseph Brian Tay Wee Teck, Christian Tjagvad, Marta Torrens, Judith Meme Twala, Ramyadarshni Vadivel, Joseph Robert Volpicelli, Jelmer Weijs, Steven Michael Wintoniw, Apisak Wittayanookulluk, Marcin Wojnar, Sadia Yasir, Yimenu Yitayih, Min Zhao, and Arash Khojasteh Zonoozi
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COVID-19 pandemic ,substance use disorder ,public health ,drug policy ,opioid agonist treatment ,addiction services ,Psychiatry ,RC435-571 - Abstract
Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted people with substance use disorders (SUDs) worldwide, and healthcare systems have reorganized their services in response to the pandemic.Methods: One week after the announcement of the COVID-19 as a pandemic, in a global survey, 177 addiction medicine professionals described COVID-19-related health responses in their own 77 countries in terms of SUD treatment and harm reduction services. The health responses were categorized around (1) managerial measures and systems, (2) logistics, (3) service providers, and (4) vulnerable groups.Results: Respondents from over 88% of countries reported that core medical and psychiatric care for SUDs had continued; however, only 56% of countries reported having had any business continuity plan, and 37.5% of countries reported shortages of methadone or buprenorphine supplies. Participants of 41% of countries reported partial discontinuation of harm-reduction services such as needle and syringe programs and condom distribution. Fifty-seven percent of overdose prevention interventions and 81% of outreach services were also negatively impacted.Conclusions: Participants reported that SUD treatment and harm-reduction services had been significantly impacted globally early during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on our findings, we highlight several issues and complications resulting from the pandemic concerning people with SUDs that should be tackled more efficiently during the future waves or similar pandemics. The issues and potential strategies comprise the following: (1) helping policymakers to generate business continuity plans, (2) maintaining the use of evidence-based interventions for people with SUDs, (3) being prepared for adequate medication supplies, (4) integrating harm reduction programs with other treatment modalities, and (5) having specific considerations for vulnerable groups such as immigrants and refugees.
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- 2021
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