[Review of domestic and international drug addiction replacement treatment policies and cost-effectiveness analysis of methadone treatment in Taiwan]

Division of Health Technology Assessment, Center for Drug Evaluation, Taiwan
Record ID 32018011214
Chinese (Mandarin)
Authors' objectives: The objectives of this project include: (1) Compiling domestic and international drug replacement treatment policies to assist in subsequent policy adjustments. (2) Exploring the reasons for the decline in the number of people receiving methadone replacement treatment. (3) Using cost-benefit analysis to evaluate whether the measures related to methadone replacement treatment implemented since 2006 have achieved relative benefits from the Ministry of Health and Welfareˇ¦s perspective.
Authors' results and conclusions: The number of heroin-related crimes is decreasing year by year. Increasing the number of deferred prosecutions for drug use and the number of days of mandatory treatment will effectively increase the number of people receiving replacement treatment. The Methadone Replacement Treatment Service Accessibility Subsidy Program is effective for small institutions with 1 to 50 people. However, further subsidy strategies are still needed to assist with operations in medium-sized institutions with 51 to 150 people.
Authors' recommendations: The number of heroin-related crimes is decreasing year by year. Increasing the number of deferred prosecutions for drug use and the number of days of mandatory treatment will effectively increase the number of people receiving replacement treatment. The Methadone Replacement Treatment Service Accessibility Subsidy Program is effective for small institutions with 1 to 50 people. However, further subsidy strategies are still needed to assist with operations in medium-sized institutions with 51 to 150 people.
Authors' methods: (1) Conduct a systematic literature review of methadone replacement treatment policies using five academic databases. (2) Compare the trends in heroin use and the number of people receiving replacement treatment using the Criminal Record Processing System and the Replacement Treatment Operation Management Database. (3) Calculate the cost and medical benefits of methadone replacement treatment for cases over the years using data from the Replacement Treatment Operation Management Database and the Ministry of Health and Welfareˇ¦s Data Science Center. Also, conduct a preliminary cost-effectiveness analysis of medical institutions in response to the 2019 Methadone Replacement Treatment Service Accessibility Subsidy Program.
Details
Project Status: Completed
Year Published: 2023
URL for published report: https://www.cde.org.tw/HTA/achievements
URL for additional information: English (Abstract) Full HTA report in Chinese (Mandarin)
English language abstract: An English language summary is available
Publication Type: Full HTA
MeSH Terms
  • Addiction Medicine
  • Substance-Related Disorders
  • Opioid-Related Disorders
  • Opioid Epidemic
  • Methadone
  • Substance Withdrawal Syndrome
  • Cost-Benefit Analysis
  • Cost-Effectiveness Analysis
  • Heroin Dependence
Keywords
  • methadone
  • replacement treatment
  • cost-effectiveness analysis
Contact
Organisation Name: Center for Drug Evaluation
Contact Address: 3F.,No.465, Sec.6, Zhongxiao E. Rd., Taipei 11557, Taiwan. R.O.C.
Contact Name: Li Ying (Grace) Huang
Contact Email: lyhuang277@cde.org.tw
This is a bibliographic record of a published health technology assessment from a member of INAHTA or other HTA producer. No evaluation of the quality of this assessment has been made for the HTA database.