About this intervention
Opioid Substitution Programs
Opioid substitution therapy involves the provision, under medical supervision, of opioids such as methadone, buprenorphine and diamorphine (pharmaceutical heroin) to people who are opioid dependent. Both methadone and buprenorphine for the treatment of opioid dependence are included in the WHO list of essential medicines. More information... http://www.who.int/hiv/topics/idu/drug_dep...
About these indicators
Is opioid substitution therapy (OST) available?
Is methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) available?
Is buprenorphine maintenance treatment (BMT) available?
Are other forms of opioid substitution therapy available?
Number of sites where OST is available
Data on the number of sites where OST is available is reported defiantly in different countries: in some the number of specialist OST clinics are reported (in some settings these may be the only OST sites that do exist); in others the number of OST dispensing points are reported, this may include pharmacies, specialist clinics or other medical settings; for other countries the number of medical practitioners who prescribe OST is reported, or the number of sites where one may obtain a prescription for OST. Where available, details specifying the type of data referred to can be viewed by clicking on each piece of data in the tables.
Number of OST sites per 1000 IDUs
Numerator: number of sites where OST is available
Denominator: estimated number of IDUs /1000
Gives a very broad indication of the scale of OST program implementation relative to the size of the IDU population; findings are context specific and it is important to also consider the geographic distribution of the target population and other local factors that might influence accessibility of OST sites; further, in many countries not all IDUs are opioid users.
Number of MMT recipients
Total number of all MMT recipients at a single point in time; including both IDUs and drug users who do not inject (from program data)
Number of BMT recipients
Total number of all BMT recipients at a single point in time; including both IDUs and drug users who do not inject (from program data)
Number of recipients of other forms of OST
Total number of recipients of other forms of OST at a single point in time; including both IDUs and drug users who do not inject (from program data)
Number of all OST recipients
Total number of all OST recipients at a single point in time; including both IDUs and drug users who do not inject (from program data)
Number of OST recipients per 100 IDUs
Numerator: total number of all OST recipients at a single point in time; including both IDUs and drug users who do not inject (from program data)
Denominator: estimated number of IDUs
Not all IDUs use opioids and not all OST recipients are IDUs. Because data on the number of opioid injectors and the number of IDUs receiving OST were available for very few countries it was not possible to report on the percentage of opioid IDUs who were recipients of OST. In order to gain some sense of the scale of OST programs relative to the size of the injecting population the ratio of all OST recipients to the total number of IDUs was calculated.